


The Seven Year Gap

by littlesolo



Category: The Originals (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:15:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24531397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesolo/pseuds/littlesolo
Summary: These are events that happen during the seven year gap between seasons.  Each still told from both points of view.This seriously needs a better title and summary, but enjoy.
Relationships: Keelin Malraux/Freya Mikaelson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62





	1. 7 Year Gap x01 Adjustments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place shortly after the Mikaelson's split up. Told from both points of view.

_**KEELIN** _

The separation of the Mikaelson family hits Freya hard, just like she and Rebekah thought it would. Keelin had promised herself and the younger sister that she’d be there for Freya and help get her through this. 

She fully intended on keeping her promise, but doing so soon became complicated. Freya refused to give up on her family, but she had expected that. She would never ask Freya to give up on them. For some reason, she’d thought it would be like what they’d done before. She figured it would involve Freya spending endless hours in the bell tower, and that was something she was prepared to deal with. She thought she’d be able to coax Freya from the tower for sleep and meals at least, and on the nights she couldn’t, they had two beds there. It wasn’t an ideal situation but it would work for a while. It would take time for Freya to realize that coming up with a solution wouldn’t happen overnight, no matter how hard she pushed herself. Still, Keelin planned to be there all the way through it. 

The only problem was that what she had expected hadn’t happened. For instance, she had forgotten to take into account her job at the clinic. Her job would keep her from being with Freya for hours on end. Although, she was pretty sure constantly spending time together would drive them both nuts. 

There were days where Freya was okay and that’s how things had started out. Freya would go and ask Vincent what he knew and how he knew it. Unfortunately, there was only so much he could tell her. The two of them went through everything he knew and everything he’d seen on during his spells in the span of a week. Keelin knew that as far as Vincent was concerned, the issue of the Hollow had been dealt with and he didn’t see the point in going over everything. Which is why Keelin paid him a visit while he was at Rousseau’s after that first day. 

He was sitting at one of the tables in the back, nursing a drink. Once she got one for herself, she went and joined him. He had been lost in thought and only noticed her when she sat down. Once he did though, he went to leave. Keelin may have used a bit of her werewolf strength to haul him back down into his seat. He grudgingly turned to face her. 

“I got nothing to say to you” he says right of the bat. 

“Then just listen, you and I both know that Freya’s going to do everything she can to bring her family back together safely- “ she starts but he interrupts her. 

“Not my problem. As far as I’m concerned, having most of the Mikaelson’s as well as Marcel gone might actually bring New Orleans some peace. I figure we can handle one Mikaelson witch, but bringing them all back will mean nothing but trouble. Now, why would I go out of my way to make that happen, if it’s even possible?” he asks. Keelin stops for a moment and takes a deep breath before answering him, but she never lets go of his arm. She reminds herself that she’s here for Freya and that thought keeps her calm and from losing her temper. 

“Because Freya needs to know that she’s done everything she can. If it’s not possible, we’ll deal with it, but until then, she has to try” she explains. Vincent simply props his face in his hand and looks at her. 

“Where is she right now? Freya?” he asks. Keelin left Freya in her apartment to get some much needed rest. The blonde witch had spent most of the previous day and a better part of the night, writing down everything she knew about the Hollow. It wasn’t really a surprise that she’d worn herself out. But Keelin wasn’t going to tell any of that to Vincent. 

“If you’re so certain it can’t be done, then what’s the harm in letting her try?” she persists, avoiding his question. Vincent shakes his head. 

“Nothing is stopping her from going to visit them once they settle” he argues before taking a sip of his drink. 

“Look, just tell her as much as you know” pleads Keelin. Vincent sighs and finally meets her eyes. 

“Most of what I know was in the book the Hollow burned. Even if I wanted to help, which I don’t, I wouldn’t know where to begin…” he admits. Keelin nods, taking that in. It’s not a lot, but at least it’s a starting point for Freya, maybe more. Freya tends to come up with ideas when most had given up. Keelin wasn’t going to deprive her of that chance. 

“Look, tell her about the book and tell her as much as you do know. She’s lost everything, you can’t take her hope from her too” says Keelin. She’s tired from her shifts at the clinic, but even though Vincent might say no, she has to try. 

“Even if it’s false hope?” he asks with a raised eyebrow. Keelin shrugs. 

“It’s better than no hope at all” she replies, finally taking a sip of her own drink. She winces, the ice had melted and spoiled the taste. 

“She still has you” he points out and Keelin sighs. She’s doing what she can and hopes it’s enough. 

* * *

By the end of the first week, Freya’s compiled enough information that she feels she can finally take a break. She gives herself the weekend off, which just happens to be the same two days that she has off from the clinic. She’ll have to come up with a way to thank Vincent. She knows everything won’t be this easy, but she’ll take the win. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

Freya had expected things to be hard after the others left, but it was much harder than she thought. Even though she spent most of her time in the bell tower or at Keelin’s, she missed having the option of talking to her siblings. She missed having someone to talk about Keelin with, mainly because Rebekah would tell her to relax and not let her nerves get to her. There was a fair bit of mocking that went along with their talks, but now that Rebekah was gone, she missed that too. She missed Elijah, she missed Klaus. Kol hadn’t been around much, but she figured he was off with Davina somewhere, being happy and knowing that was enough for her. She misses Hayley. If there was another person she was close to, it was Hayley. Lastly, she missed Hope. She’d played babysitter to Hope multiple times but had she known that there would come a time when she couldn’t, she would have spent more time with her. There was always some sort of drama happening to the Mikaelsons, and when magic wasn’t needed, Freya was the one who got to stay with Hope. She loved those times. She would have taught Hope a better game than jacks, but she didn’t know a lot of them. Well, when it came to childhood in general, she didn’t know much, but she wanted Hope to have the best. What made her sad was that now, she’d miss most of it.

Wanting to take her mind off her missing siblings, Freya focused on trying to get them back. It was easier said than done. Trying to review what she knew, she realized all of it really involved how the Hollow had defeated her time after time. Not wanting to dwell on that, she went off to find Vincent. 

It was obvious that Vincent was reluctant to help her. The moment he saw her, he pointed at her with his hand and said “No.” Freya wasn’t one to be deterred easily though. She sat down and waited, staying out of his way, but always in his field of vision. He couldn’t avoid her forever and even if their only interaction for the day was him kicking her out, she’d just come back tomorrow. She’s lucky she brought a coffee with her because it’s midday before he finally acknowledges her. 

“What. Do you want?” he asks as he sits across from her. She knows he’s only here because he’s tired of her, but she’ll take what she can get. Vincent has never made his dislike of the Mikaelson family a secret. It probably hadn’t helped that one had possessed him for a while, but the rest of them didn’t exactly grow on him either. Freya knew that what she’d done to Davina made him hate her, and despite the former Harvest girl being back, his feelings hadn’t wavered. But she didn’t need him to like her, she just needed to know what he knew. 

“I need to know everything you do about the Hollow” she says. She’d brought a book to make notes in, but she wasn’t pulling that out until he had agreed to help. The two of them then enter a sort of staring contest. Freya settles further into her seat, making it clear she’s not leaving and Vincent runs a hand down his face in exasperation. If only to make her leave, Vincent tells her what he knows. Or at least, a little of what he knows. She knows he’s telling her just enough to get rid of her for now. 

When she shows up the next day, with her book and pen, Vincent seems a bit more willing to share. If she thought about it, she might have found it odd, but she was too focused on getting information about the Hollow to notice. Vincent lets her come every day and she fills up her book with notes. By then end of the week, he’s told her all he knows and even some theories that he has. She goes back to Keelin’s apartment and reviews all of her notes and tries to make sense of them. 

By the time Keelin got home, Freya's had enough. Keelin comes in and practically collapses on the couch, but manages to still give her a tired smile. Grinning back, Freya gets up and settles down next to her. 

“How was your day?” she asks as she leans into Keelin’s side. Keelin sighs but puts her arm around her. 

“Tiring. But I’m glad to be home” says Keelin. Freya nods. One thing she knows they have in common, it’s working long hours. The major difference being that Keelin helps lots of people and she tended to focus on a specific handful. Freya knew that Keelin was doing her best to help her so she decided to try and be there for Keelin too. 

“I’d recommend a movie with me” she states in a voice filled with confidence that she only partially feels. Keelin smiles at her and nods. 

“Let me get a shower and change and then we can pick what to watch” says Keelin as she pushes herself up off the couch. Freya grins and gets up to see if they have anything to eat while they watch. Opening the fridge, she sees nothing that’s actually edible. Given their schedules, it’s not all that surprising that the both of them have forgotten to go get food. Freya feels a little guilty though, her own busy schedule could have waited a little bit. Keelin’s schedule has less wiggle room in it. So, she goes to the drawer under the counter and pulls out the take-out menus. Those they have plenty of. 

When Keelin comes back she looks a lot more relaxed than she had when she first got home. Freya has learned that it’s one of Keelin’s habits to wash the day off the minute she gets home no matter how tired she is. The only time she doesn’t is when she has an especially hard day at work. The kind of day where something awful happens and she feels it will take more than a shower to forget about it. That hasn’t actually happened yet, but Keelin had given her a heads up in the event that it did. Keelin looks over at her, Freya holds up the menus and shrugs. 

“I forgot to go shopping” she admits. Keelin walks over and looks through the assortment of menus Freya’s holding. 

“We'll go tomorrow. You ever try Indian food?” asks the doctor. Freya rolls her eyes. 

“No, I’ve never tried Indian food before. Or maybe I have… I don’t remember. Anyway, I don’t even know how we got these menus, I just know where you keep them” answers Freya. 

“Then we’ll start with Indian and work our way through the others” says Keelin with a grin. As they wait, Keelin goes through her various streaming accounts to find something for them to watch. Freya had watched various shows with Hayley and Rebekah on Netflix, but she usually let them choose what to watch. They had let her pick a few times but the huge selection tended to be overwhelming and she had no idea what any of them were about. So, she let Keelin pick, but she tended to enjoy whatever they watched together. This was proven when she let Keelin answer the door for the food. She would have gotten it, but she was so focused on the movie, she hadn’t even heard the knock on the door. She does notice when the wolf returns though. She leans back into Keelin’s side and snuggles into her shoulder as she hands her a take-out box of food. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

Not all days are easy. There are days where Freya can’t get out of bed, usually because she’d spent all of the previous night crying. It’s only happened a few times, but it makes Keelin feel helpless. All she can do is hold her as she cries because there’s nothing she can say that will make her feel better. Freya’s siblings all agreed to contact her once they were settled, Hayley and Hope too, but so far no one had. For now, she was all Freya had. 

Then there had been a really bad day. Keelin had come home from the clinic to an empty apartment. That wasn’t all that unusual, so she’d taken a shower and gotten changed. She went ahead and made them something to eat, but by the time it was ready, Freya still wasn’t back and it was getting late. She knew Freya could take care of herself, but she was usually home by now, so Keelin went out to look for her. 

Thinking she might have just lost track of time, she checks the bell tower first. Next, she checked Rousseau’s. Sometimes Freya got discouraged and tried to wash it away with a few drinks. The last place she checked was the Mikaelson compound, but she should have checked there first. The compound has lots of rooms and since she doesn’t find Freya in the courtyard, she has quite a search ahead of her. She eventually finds Freya in the room Hayley and Hope had shared. Freya’s sitting on the floor in the middle of the room with her back to her. Carefully, Keelin edges around the side of the room to get a better look at her girlfriend. Freya’s sitting cross-legged, holding one of Hope’s stuffed animals in her hands, a tiger by the looks of it. It must have gotten left behind by accident. Freya’s staring at it blankly, her hands trembling slightly as she holds it. Every time she’s seen Freya in this sort of state, it’s scared her and this is no different. 

“Freya, honey, it’s getting late, we should go. We can bring that with us, okay?” she says gently. She wants to bring Freya out of her trance but she isn’t sure how. Freya doesn’t seem hear her at all. “Freya?” she tries again. The witch tilts her head towards her slightly. It’s not a lot, but Keelin takes it as a good sign. She hadn’t thought to turn on the lights during her search, and it’s only getting darker outside. The power hadn’t been cut, so getting some light would be as easy as flipping a switch, but she couldn’t bear to leave Freya’s side. Instead, she settles down on her knees next to her and rubs Freya’s shoulder. For a while that’s all they do, sit there together, but then Freya speaks. 

“This should be with Hope. Hope should be here. So should Hayley” says Freya so softly that if it wasn’t for her wolf hearing, she wouldn’t have heard it at all. Keelin moves her hand to the back of Freya’s neck and then through her blonde hair. She’d seen the tear tracks on her girlfriend’s face when she came in, but now they’ve started again. She holds back a sigh and hopes she’s doing the right thing. She readjusts herself, putting her legs around Freya’s and draws her backwards into a hug. 

They’d tried staying at the compound after the others left, but it had been too much for the witch. Keelin had slept most of the night, her shift at the clinic having taken its toll on her as well as her anxiety about the situation and wanting to be there for Freya. By the end of the day she had been exhausted and more than ready to sleep, but she did her best to stay awake until Freya dropped off. She must have nodded off at some point but she wakes up a while later to find that Freya hadn’t moved. She was still laying on her stomach, her hand holding Keelin’s, and her head facing the open bedroom door. Keelin had placed a hand on Freya’s back and rubbed soothing circles as she strained to hear what Freya was listening for. All she could hear were the sounds of the large home settling. Then she realized it was what Freya wasn’t hearing. With four other people in the house, there had probably always been the sound of footsteps somewhere, given their odd hours. Then there would be the sound of Hope’s little feet during the day. Now, there was only the occasional creak as the night went on. 

It was Freya’s stillness that woke her a few other times that night. Other than making sure the other woman was breathing, more for her own sake than Freya’s, there wasn’t a lot she could do. This happened the next two nights they stayed there as well, so Keelin suggested they stay at her apartment and Freya hadn’t argued. 

So, given how their previous nights had been, Keelin was reluctant to stay there overnight but Freya didn’t look like she was moving anytime soon. They sat there until Keelin’s legs felt like they were falling asleep. At that point, Keelin had gotten up and gently moved Freya so that she could pick her up. She would have been alarmed at how easy that had been, but she was simply too tired. She carried Freya out of the room and back to her own for the night. Freya hadn’t said anything, simply clutched the stuffed animal to her chest. Setting Freya under the covers, she’d gone around to the other side to climb in. By the time she’d settled in, Freya was fast asleep, still holding the tiger. That had been their worst night so far. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

As hard as this has been on her, she knows that it’s been hard on Keelin too. She forgets that sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. She knows Keelin’s doing all she can, and it helps. She forgets to tell Keelin that too. There’s a lot she doesn’t tell Keelin. She doesn’t tell her how scared she is. How she sometimes feels the same loneliness she’d felt with Aunt Dahlia creeping up on her. She doesn’t want to think about Aunt Dahlia much less talk about her past with the woman to Keelin. She knows she’s been isolated most of her life, but she doesn’t want to think about that either. She’d woken up, found her family, protected her niece… until she couldn’t anymore. She can’t help but feel like this whole situation is her fault. She had tried over and over to help end the Hollow but none of her attempts had worked. She had failed over and over again until she wasn’t any help at all. It had come down to Vincent and his plan that split them all up. 

Keelin tends to see the best in her and recently Freya’s tried to do that too. But her siblings had given her purpose. If she wasn’t doing something for them, she was trying to protect them by any means possible, the fact that there tended to be a crisis of some sort helped keep her busy, but even if there wasn’t one, it didn’t mean she could let her guard down. Now, she had no one to protect and was kind of at a loss as to what to do with herself. So, she threw herself into trying to get them back together. 

The only good thing in her life at the moment is Keelin, and she’s trying not to shut her out, but she’s so used to looking after people, it’s hard to just stop. For the past few years, she’s looked out for her siblings, and before that she’d looked after herself. She could go back to just looking after herself, but that wouldn’t be fair to Keelin. Then there’s the fact that Keelin had recently been showing her that she’s not all that great at doing that either. 

She tries to let herself have days off from working on the Hollow, but it always lingers in some part of her mind. Then there’s the fact that trouble tended to follow her family. The rest of her family was pretty capable of looking after themselves, but they were stronger together, they’d proved that more than once. It’s how they’d defeated every enemy so far. She couldn’t help feeling like there was another attack on the horizon and that this time they could be picked off one by one. The fact that she continued to doubt herself didn’t help. She wasn’t a vampire like her siblings, she was a witch, and that hadn’t been all that helpful lately. 

She couldn’t tell any of this to Keelin. Keelin had faith in her even though she didn’t and that kind of faith was hard to live up to. 

She wasn’t sure how she wound up at the compound that one night. She had gone on one of her walks to clear her head and hadn’t really been paying attention to where her feet were leading her. Somehow, she had found herself in the courtyard, but her feet had kept going. Everything was as empty as it had been last time. The last time she'd been here was with Keelin as they packed up her stuff to take to the apartment. There hadn’t been much other than clothes, a majority of the things that had meaning to her were stored in the bell tower. She had also put up a boundary spell so that only the former occupants and Keelin could get into the compound. 

She doesn’t remember wandering from room to room, but when she spotted Hope’s stuffed animal poking out from beneath the bed skirt, she couldn’t move. She stood there a long time before reaching down and picking it up. Then it suddenly felt too heavy, everything did, and she found herself collapsing where she stood. Eventually, she became vaguely aware that the way she was sitting was painful and readjusted herself. She couldn’t tell you how long she’d already been there when Keelin showed up. It had taken her a few minutes to even notice her. 

When she did, she didn’t know how to explain was that she felt as empty as her home. Telling her that wouldn’t be fair to Keelin, after all she was doing her best to be there for her. Also, it would probably make the doctor feel like everything she was doing was useless. It wasn’t. Keelin was there for her on the mornings she couldn’t get out of bed until she had to go to work, but she always left her with something warm to drink sitting nearby and something for lunch in the fridge. Freya had no idea when she had the time to do all that, but regardless of how Freya was feeling, there was always something in the fridge for her to eat, even if she forgot to. 

She couldn’t let go of the stuffed toy, and was holding on to it like a lifeline. All she felt in that moment was guilty. All this time she’d been worried and focused on her siblings, but Hayley and Hope were her family too. She wanted to see them. Everyone had promised to keep in touch, one way or another, but so far no one had. Freya was waiting for them to make the first move because she was afraid if she did, she’d be putting them in danger somehow. Keelin had taken care of her that night too. She hadn’t tried to take the stuffed toy from her and had somehow known that Freya wasn’t capable of moving on her own. She’d felt too tired to move, so Keelin had carried her to her room and tucked her in. That night she had slept soundly, but she knew she couldn’t stay there. She’d tried before, and after three sleepless nights, Keelin had suggested staying at her apartment. Freya had agreed, mainly because when she stayed in her bedroom at the compound, she couldn’t shut her eyes, afraid that she’d miss seeing someone walking by her door. She told herself that staying with Keelin was the best choice. If she stayed in the bell tower, she’d be more likely to fall into old habits. She told herself that with Keelin and time, things would get better. Now she only had to get herself to believe it. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

They had good days too. Days where Freya spent time reading something other than spell books, instead opting for one of the handful of books that Keelin owned that weren’t medically related. Keelin had picked them up at second hand shops just to have something to flip through before bed, but then she’d started her job and her time there made the books unnecessary. She was dead on her feet when she got home from working her shift or sometimes more than one. 

Once she realized Freya was spending her time reading at the apartment, she went online and bought a few books she thought the witch might actually enjoy. She might have gone a bit overboard since given the amount it, it would have been cheaper to buy her a Kindle, but Freya seemed like the type that would enjoy that new book smell. A few days later, Freya was reading books that were actually worth her time. 

She probably should have known that spells weren’t the only thing she dedicated her hyper focus to. That she was hyper focused when it came to everything. On the odd occasion that Freya was awake when Keelin got ready for her shift, she’d be hunkered down in bed or on the couch with a book in one hand and a hot drink in the other. When she came home, Freya would often be in the same spot, empty cup set aside, and usually on the last few pages or chapters of her current book. It would be obvious that she hadn’t moved all day, and wouldn’t until the book was done. Keelin would worry about the fact that Freya still wasn’t taking the best care of herself, but at least she was relaxing in her own way. That and the fact that the books she’d picked out for her were a hit. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

Sometimes she had good days, and thankfully they were pretty evenly mixed in with her work days and the few bad days. Enough that they made everything sort of balance out. One day she’d had trouble getting out of bed, not because she was feeling sad or tired, like was sometimes the case, but because she was too comfy to move. The whole apartment smelled a little like the wolf, her scent lingering everywhere from the bed covers to the shower gel in the bathroom. It brought her comfort when Keelin wasn’t there and sometimes she couldn’t bring herself to leave. 

That day she couldn’t leave the bed, but she was also was bored. There was only so long she could burrow into the covers before she started to miss Keelin, and it would be a while before she got home since she’d left just an hour ago. Leaning over the edge of the bed, she’d found a stack of novels and decided to start one. The first one she picked she read the first few chapters of and then flipped through a bit to see if it got any better. It didn’t so she abandoned the book altogether. The next one she picked up was a little better, but not by much. It had so many characters she practically need a flow chart to keep track and it went back and forth between the past and the present. The third book she grabbed was a mystery novel. It was decent and easy to follow so she read it. If she was being honest, none of these books seemed like the Keelin she knew, but they were well worn so they’d been read a lot. Then there was the fact that she still had a lot to learn about the doctor. 

A few days later, a bunch of books arrived and Keelin said they might be a bit more interesting to her. Later, she’d notice the well-worn books in the trash, but she didn’t think much of it. She decided that she deserved a few days off from everything, from researching the Hollow by bugging Vincent, from pouring over the notes she’d taken, from worrying about everybody else. The new books were much better, some she could even see the wolf reading, but she thought it was sweet that Keelin had picked out books that were probably better suited for her. They hadn’t shared that much about themselves other than bits of their pasts and now a few movies as well. These books she couldn’t put down. 

She only had one real problem when it came to the new books. She didn’t want to read them all at once and have nothing for later, she wanted to pace her way through, but she was curious about all of them. Then there was the fact that while Keelin was helping numerous people, her job didn’t pay all that much and she didn’t want to even think about how much a little more than twenty books had cost her. 

They did other things together too. Some nights they stayed in and caught up on movies Freya had missed out on. Other days they went around to some of Freya’s favorite spots. That was harder on Freya because most of the places had been shown to her by her siblings or Hayley. 

There were art galleries that Klaus had enjoyed, and bars that Hayley and Rebekah had frequented. The park she went to with Hope. Almost all of them had memories associated with them but she also enjoyed them for reasons of her own. The park was peaceful, one of the bars had a pool table in the back. It turned out Keelin was a better player than she was, despite everything Rebekah had taught her. When she played pool against Keelin she got the feeling that sometimes Rebekah had let her win. When it came to darts, she knew she didn’t have a chance, she’d seen that the day Hayley dropped in on them at Rousseau’s. 

There was another bar that had a few video games in the back along with a pinball machine. The pinball machine had taken her a while to get the hang of, but figuring out the video games, well, that had amused Hayley to no end. The only game she was any good at was a fighting game but it wasn’t due to skill, it was how fast she was at pressing random buttons. Apparently, there was a technique to the game and combinations she could use, but there was also a time limit to the rounds and Freya didn’t have the time to figure them out. She had fun though, even if Keelin was already familiar with the games. 

Trying out these new things let her in on what felt like a secret that everyone else knew. That there was more to life than protecting her loved ones, even if that’s what she thought her purpose was. Some part of her had always known that, after all Klaus made time for his art and Elijah for his music. Rebekah made time to go out and have fun, and Kol… well, she didn’t really know what Kol did, but he’d found the time to fall in love with Davina. She felt she owed it to herself to take some time off and figure out what her interests were. 

Keelin had explained to her that she’d been hunted most of her life and she could have stayed safe by closing herself off completely. She admits that she did to a certain degree, holing up in libraries and studying for what seemed like days on end or working endless shifts in hospitals. But she also knew she couldn’t stop living, so she made time for that too. She went out with friends for drinks or attempted to date, not that her relationships ever lasted too long due to her being a wolf, but she’d tried. Keelin also explained that she could stay in her bell tower, waiting for the next crisis to come, but that she’d miss out on so much that way. She’d miss out on life that way. Keelin told her that as much as her siblings missed each other, they were out still living life. So, Freya decided she would too, as long as Keelin was there to help her figure it all out. 


	2. 7 Year Gap x02 Unexpected Ills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the worst enemies are the ones you never expect and don't know how to deal with. Good thing one of them does. 
> 
> Told from both points of view.

_**FREYA** _

Being a witch means Freya’s mortal, something she sometimes forgets. The Mikaelson name carried a lot of weight and Freya’s talent with magic was also well known. The combination of these two things tended to deter most. But there were some attacks she couldn’t see coming or prepare for. 

At the moment, Freya is in the bell tower working on a few spells. The spells won’t get her any closer to reuniting her family, but it couldn’t hurt to keep her skills up. It had been a while since everyone had left, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was danger lurking nearby and when it hit, she wanted to be ready. 

Sighing, she braces herself with her arms and leans against the table. Her whole body hurts but it’s her head that’s getting to her. Figuring it’s just because she’s pushing herself too hard, she tries to shake it off. She’s worked through worse before. She works for a few more hours but then her stomach goes against her too. She had missed lunch again and chalked up the tumbling feeling to hunger pains. She only lasts a little while longer before exhaustion adds itself to the mix. 

Finally relenting to all the signals her body has been giving her, she goes over to the cots that are still in the other room. Once she reaches them, she all but collapses onto one. Telling herself that she’ll just take a short nap, she goes to curl up. She’s out before her head even hits the pillow. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

Recently, Freya has been spending more time at the bell tower. She’s taking a break from working on the Hollow and is honing her skills instead. Lately, if Freya wasn’t doing research, she was gearing up for a fight. Keelin knows Freya wants something to unleash on, something she can defeat and be certain it’s dead. It’s not like New Orleans isn’t without villains, but so far, they’ve all been pretty small scale compared to the types the Mikaelson family usually faced, and weren’t really worth Freya’s time. 

When Keelin finally makes it up all the stairs to the bell tower, she looks around for her girlfriend. Usually, she’d find Freya behind her table working on a spell or going through a book. It’s always puzzled her why Freya doesn’t use a stool or at least a chair, there are chairs stacked everywhere. 

She’s starting to think Freya isn’t here when she gazes into the other room and sees one of the cots. Sometimes she finds it hard to believe it all started here. Not the whole being a prisoner thing, that started in a barn in the middle of nowhere. She means their friendship. The argument could be made that she traded one prison for another, but she doesn’t see it that way. Okay, yes, she hadn’t been able to leave the bell tower, but that had been for her protection. Personally, she stopped seeing it as a prison the moment Freya removed the limitations from her ring. It evened the odds and she probably could have taken the witch with only a slight chance of getting her brain melted. 

The thing was, after their road trip, it felt like they were developing the beginnings of a friendship. She says beginnings because the witch didn’t completely trust her yet, but it felt like they were getting there. Freya had given her an apology of sorts and she didn’t seem like the type to say things she didn’t mean. This was confirmed the next time she saw Freya and got a second apology. Things between them had only grown from there. 

Shaking her head clear of memories, Keelin is about to leave when she hears something shift in the other room. Curled up on one of the cots is Freya and Keelin lets out a sigh of relief. She’s guessing Freya pushed herself to the point of exhaustion, but this time had the sense to take a break. Walking over to the cots, she settles down on the one not being used. She smiles slightly at the sight of Freya resting, but then it turns to a frown. There’s a sheen of sweat on her forehead. She also notices that she’s not resting in a particularly comfortable position. It looks like Freya was sitting on the edge, holding the blanket, and had sort of slumped to the side, leaving her feet on the ground. Keelin wonders if Freya’s having nightmares again. It’s been a while since she’s had any, but being familiar with nightmares herself, she knows they just happen sometimes. 

Freya begins to stir and Keelin reaches over to gently shake her out of whatever dream she’s trapped in. She’s just put her hand on the blonde’s shoulder when Freya suddenly sits up right. Still thinking it’s a nightmare, Keelin tries to comfort her. 

“Freya, it’s okay… you’re safe” she says gently. Freya looks at her for a second before quickly turning away from her and throwing up over the side. Getting up quickly, she places one hand on Freya’s back and rubs soothing circles while the other moves her hair away from her face. When Freya’s done, Keelin helps ease her back into a sitting position. “Feel better?” asks Keelin softly. Freya simply groans and leans into Keelin’s side. “How have you been feeling” she tries again. Freya wipes at her face with the edge of the blanket before giving a one armed shrug. 

“I hurt all over and my head is pounding…” sighs the witch as she pushes her damp hair away from her face. 

“And your stomach?” pushes the doctor as she continues to rub her back. 

“I skipped lunch. I figured it was just hunger pains…” answers Freya. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

Freya’s pushed herself hard before, that’s nothing new, but this feels different. This felt like she’d been hit by a truck. She slowly turns her head to look at Keelin. If she moves slow enough, turning doesn’t make her dizzy or sick to her stomach again. Keelin is looking at her with the critical but kind eye of a doctor. When the other woman places her hand on her forehead, Freya can’t help her flinch. Everything feels over sensitive. Thankfully, she’d put most of the candles out, leaving the bell tower in shadows. 

“Freya, sweetie, you have a fever…” says Keelin softly. Freya groans. 

“Mikaelson’s don’t get sick” she argues. Keelin gives her an amused look. 

“Maybe your siblings don’t since they’re vampires, but you, on the other hand, are sick with what looks like the flu” explains the doctor as she sits behind her. The stink of her vomit from earlier is starting to get to her so she throws the blanket over it. She moves too fast though and it immediately makes her dizzy and her stomach churn. Luckily, Keelin’s hands are on her shoulders in an instant, steadying her. She takes a few deep breaths and it seems to calm her nausea. This time, without moving her head, she looks around the room. 

“What are you looking for?” asks Keelin. Freya’s so grateful that Keelin is keeping her voice soft, her head feels like it’s going to explode as it is. 

“Water. I need something to drink… or at least wash my mouth out” she answers. 

“Can you sit up on your own?” asks the wolf. Freya’s about to nod, but remembers just in time that’s a bad idea. Leaning forward, she braces herself on her knees. Keelin gets up, careful not to jostle her, and goes to search the small fridge in the other room. If she remembers correctly, she has tequila in there along with a few bottles of water. Keelin is then back at her side with two water bottles, a towel, and a bowl. Freya watches as Keelin empties one of the bottles into the bowl before handing the other bottle to her. She watches as the doctor soaks the towel in the bowl before wringing it out a little and setting it on the back of her neck. Freya adjusts the towel slightly so that it’s not dripping down her back and opens the bottle of water. Taking a long drink, she watches as her girlfriend goes from room to room, looking for what, she has no idea. Keelin comes back and crouches down next to her, leaning her arm against the cot. 

“Okay, as expected, you have nothing to eat here. That means I have to go out and get a few things. Now, I can wait a while and get them later if you want me to stay, but I want to get something in you before we try and move you to the apartment. I want you a bit stronger first, so we may be staying here overnight, okay?” explains the wolf as she squeezes her hand. Freya groans again and lets her shoulders slump. Taking a deep breath, she’s about to nod, but catches herself. 

“Go now, before it gets too late. I’ll be fine” she answers. Keelin nods and grabs the pillow from behind her. She’s just about to ask what she’s doing when Keelin explains. 

“Let’s move you to the other bed for now so you can rest while I’m out. I’ll clean up the mess when I get back.” Together, they’re able to move her. All of a sudden, she feels tired. She hasn’t really done anything other than be sick all over the floor but it apparently took a lot out of her. When Keelin comes back with a new blanket, Freya begins to suspect that it’s one of several things Keelin has stashed in her bell tower without her noticing. Keelin gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving. 

Laying down and curling up on her side, she pulls the blanket close. Reaching back on her neck, she makes sure the towel is still settled there. At the moment, it’s the only thing providing her any relief. She’s aware that she’s sweating, but she tugs the blanket tighter around her. For some reason, the rest of her is freezing. 

Keelin isn’t gone long, twenty minutes at most, but it feels like forever. As tired as she feels she can’t sleep. She readjusts a few times, trying to get comfortable, but can’t. She finally settles so she’s facing the doorway that Keelin will come through when she returns. Her tiredness must have caught up with her because next thing she knows, her eyes are opening at the sound of Keelin’s footsteps coming up the stairs. Her very _loud_ footsteps. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

Walking into the bell tower, she looks over towards where she left her witch. She catches Freya’s wince right before she pulls the blanket over her head. Setting down the bags, she kneels next to the cot and rubs at Freya’s back. 

“Feeling any better?” she asks gently. She probably isn’t, given her fever, but maybe being sick helped her stomach settle some. It also looks like Freya’s experiencing some over sensitivity along with everything else. Freya doesn’t come out from under the blanket, so her voice is muffled when she responds. 

“Do we have any more blankets? I’m freezing…” Keelin pulls the blanket back enough that she can feel her forehead again and frowns. 

“Freya, you’re burning up. We have to get you out from under this blanket and some fluids in you” she says. She goes to tug the blanket away only to have Freya clutch it tighter. “Freya…” Getting up, she searches for the bottle of water from earlier. Finding it, she hands it to the witch who takes it and drinks eagerly. “Not too fast, you’ll upset your stomach again…” she cautions. 

“What did you get?” asks the blonde as she gestures towards the bags. 

“Some crackers and ginger ale for when your stomach is a bit better. Oh, and some paper towels to clean up” she replies as she pulls out the roll. 

“What about you? What are you going to eat?” asks Freya, and Keelin can’t help but smile. The witch must feel like death warmed over but somehow, she was thinking about her. 

“I’m fine. I grabbed a deli sandwich a deli sandwich for myself” she answers. 

“This is a change of pace” sighs Freya. Keelin’s busy cleaning up the mess beside the other cot. She can tell from Freya’s expression that the witch feels bad that she’s cleaning up her mess. She smirks, betting that Freya would offer to clean it, despite hardly being able to sit up. 

“What’s a change of pace?” she asks hoping to take the blonde’s mind off her guilt. At some point, Freya was going to have to get used to being taken care of. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen a doctor… ever” says Freya. Keelin looks up and grins at her. 

“I’d say we’ve been seeing a lot of each other these past months” she answers. Freya rolls her eyes but there’s a smile tugging at her lips. 

“What I meant was, most things I can usually heal myself…” explains the witch. 

“What about if things are more severe?” she presses. She hopes Freya has a plan, but knowing her, she probably does. Instead, Freya shrugs. 

“Usually, one of my siblings give me some of their blood” she answers. Keelin pauses in her cleaning to raise an eyebrow at her. 

“Never thought I’d say this, but, I am now okay with you being thrown into things-“ she starts, bet Freya’s frown makes her stop for a moment. “What?” 

“I don’t get thrown all the time” says the witch indignantly. Well, as indignantly as she can while looking sweaty and sick. Keelin shoots her a look of disbelief as she picks up the dirty paper towels and stuffs them in the bag. 

“When is the last time you were in a battle or fight and _didn’t_ get thrown into something?” she asks. Freya thinks for a moment and then looks away. “Yeah, anyway, if all you do is get thrown into things from now on, that would be great. Nothing else though, and definitely nothing more severe, because we can’t exactly have one of them FedEx some blood over…” she continues. Freya gives her a wry smile before replying. 

“I’ll do my best.” 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

Eventually, her stomach seems to settle down, but she’s still sweating while feeling like she’s freezing. Keelin explains that it’s the fever messing with her, as she wets the towel and puts it back on her neck again. At some point, Keelin decides it’s safe for her to have some of the crackers and ginger ale, but eating doesn’t seem appealing at all. Keelin must have read it on her face because then she’s explaining how she’s dehydrated and needs to get her strength back by eating something. Freya smiles as Keelin explains all this to her. There’s probably some spell she could use to help lower her fever, but that would require being able to stand and getting her eyes to focus so that she could read and hopefully understand what was written. That seemed like a lot to ask for, especially all at once. So, she lets Keelin take care of her. 

Then she starts to feel guilty. Keelin has been looking after her pretty much since they arrived in New Orleans, and that had been months ago, almost half a year. This just happened to be one of the times that what was wrong with her was in Keelin’s wheelhouse. Well, except for the times the doctor gave her stitches, no wait, that was because she’d been thrown again. But she couldn’t remember if that was Keelin’s fault or the Hollow’s. Did that really matter? The point is she’d been thrown again, so she wasn’t going to bring it up. 

Wait, no, that hadn’t been the point. She hated that she couldn’t quite think straight because of this stupid fever. Whatever she’d been thinking about, the guilty feeling hadn’t gone anywhere. Oh, that’s right, she’d been thinking about what a mess she is. 

“What are you thinking about over there?” asks Keelin, startling her out of her thoughts. 

“I was just thinking that this probably isn’t what you signed up for…” she answers. Keelin’s walking back over, having just grabbed her sandwich from the fridge. 

“You do know that I’m a doctor and that my job requires me to treat sick people, right? Compared to some of the stuff I see at the clinic, this isn’t a big deal. Is the smell of my sandwich going to bother you?” answers the doctor. Freya shakes her head. The smell is fine, but that hadn’t been what she’s referring to. 

“No, I mean, when we started this relationship, I’m betting you expected to be with someone who could function- “ That’s as far as she gets before the wolf cuts her off. 

“Mm-mm. No. Look, yes sometimes you forget the basics when it comes to taking care of yourself, but I do too.” Freya raises an eyebrow at that, making her doubt clear. “I do! I mean, yes, I’m usually pretty good at that sort of thing, but there are days where my main meal comes from a vending machine that typically eats my money. And the shifts I do make for a difficult sleep schedule since I don’t always know if I’ll be working days or nights, or both. But we make it work. Besides, after everything with the Hollow, I had an idea of what I was getting into and I didn’t care, I still don’t. Things haven’t really changed, except you’re getting better at looking after yourself. But a relationship is more than that. One of those things is caring about the other person, and I do, so if it means helping make sure you rest and eat, it’s worth it and I don’t mind. Anyway, it’s not like all we do is work. We make time for ourselves too” explains Keelin. Freya nods but can’t help but out one thing. 

“You do know a good part of our down time is spent sleeping, right?”

Keelin lets out a small laugh. 

“Time well spent. The rest of the time we do fun stuff, like catching you up on essential stuff you’ve missed, and yes, movies and books qualify, but we also go out and enjoy ourselves. We’re still figuring stuff out, but like I’ve said before, nothing about our circumstances is exactly normal, so we’ll just tackle things as they come, alright? And I’ve told you before, Julie and Juliet all the way, and I meant it. Now, let’s eat and then get some sleep, okay?” Freya nods and gives Keelin an embarrassed smile. Somehow, no matter what was happening, Keelin always knew what to say to make her feel better and drive her doubts away. 

They finish up their meals, if you can all crackers and a flimsy deli sandwich that, and get ready to turn in for the night. By that time, Freya has finished a can of ginger ale, she's starting to feel a little more human. Keelin tucks her in before retreating to the other cot. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

Freya drops off without a problem, but her sleep is restless. She gets some sleep herself, but makes sure to check on the witch every few hours. Freya spends a lot of time tossing and turning but, in the morning, she looks a bit better. After another meal of crackers and ginger ale, Freya assures her that she can make it to the apartment. Keelin isn’t so sure, so she has them wait a few hours before they try. 

Getting down the bell tower stairs is difficult due to how narrow the space is, it fits about a person and a half. She lets Freya go down first, holding her from behind by her shoulders to keep her steady. It takes them a while to make it out, but they manage. The good part is that the trip so far hadn’t been too taxing on Freya, who seems confident she can make it to the apartment. 

Normally, the trip from the bell tower to the apartment takes about ten minutes, fifteen if they’re exhausted. They take it slow, and the trip takes nearly twice as long. As soon as they’re in the door, Freya goes to collapse on the couch, but Keelin pulls her back up and leads her to the bedroom. Setting her against the pillows, she goes to make the blonde a bowl of soup. Freya’s slowly getting her strength back, but if she wants to get better, she’ll need something more than crackers and soda. Once the soup is ready, she makes a cup of tea and takes them to the bedroom. She helps Freya sit up and then grabs a book and settles in. When Freya is done, she sets the dishes aside for her and settles in again. The witch goes to lay back down but Keelin puts a hand on her shoulder. 

“You should sit up for a while after eating” she tells her as she guides Freya to lean against her. Freya hesitates for a moment. 

“What if I get you sick?” asks the blonde. Keelin gives her a soft smile. 

“My job gives me a pretty high tolerance, but if I do, then I do. C’mere” she answers as she tugs her closer. Freya settles into her side with a sigh. Within minutes, Freya is asleep. Keelin brushes a stray lock of hair out of the witch’s face and then goes back to her book. Freya had said it was a good one. 


	3. 7 Year Gap x03 Supposedly Simply Purchases

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopping shouldn't be so hard. Told from Freya's point of view.

_**FREYA** _

At some point, they decide to get a car. The walk to the bell tower isn’t too bad and the route to the hospital isn’t exactly a trek but on nights that they’re exhausted, the journey seemed impossibly long. Then there are the practical reasons. When it came to things like grocery shopping, a twenty four pack of soda seemed like a good idea. With how hot and humid things got, relaxing with an icy soda sounded perfect. Well, it seemed like a good idea until it came to lugging the box home while also trying to carry a bunch of additional bags. She’d done it once, but since then the soda tended to stay at the store. 

It would have been easier if they went together, but finding time when their schedules worked was tough. Freya’s schedule was flexible, but she tended to forget essential things like eating, much less go shopping for things to eat. There are days where she’s lucky if she remembers to shower. Sometimes she gets so invested in her work that she only stops because she’s worn out and unsteady on her feet. She works on a number of things, sometimes things that help the community, but reuniting her family is never far from her mind. So, on hard days like those, she feels lucky when she’s able to make the short trip home. It’s all she can do to collapse safely on the couch and not the apartment’s threshold. Trying to take a shower after that seems unwise, especially if Keelin isn’t home to keep her from drowning. Realistically, there’s a slim chance of her drowning in a shower, but if she collapses there and blocks the drain, there is the chance of flooding or at least a mess. 

Keelin’s schedule is harder to predict. Sometimes the doctor works days, sometimes nights, there are even times where she works one after the other. Then there are times where she has the day off but gets called in anyway. Sometimes there’s an emergency and they need someone with Keelin’s experience. Other times, there’s a rush of patients that overwhelms the clinic and they need extra doctors on staff. 

Keelin goes out of her way to make time for them, but sometimes just sitting up for a movie is hard for her, asking her to focus on the plot of the movie seems excessive, so there’s no way Freya’s going to ask for the impossible and try to get her to go shopping. 

Days that Keelin has off, Freya forces herself to take off too. Sometimes that’s hard, because she tends to feel that there’s always something she should be doing. Then she reminds herself that their relationship is important too. She remembers Rebekah’s advice. _Family is sacred, but so is love_. So, she takes the time off. The only real problem with this is that when they do have time together, grocery shopping was low on their list. There were better things to do, like cuddling together in bed after getting some decent sleep. Like lazing around together and not really doing anything except enjoying each other’s company. Anything they did together was relaxing and worth it, so why spoil their time by going shopping? 

There were lots of reasons to get a car, one of them being those hard days where even walking to the car would be asking a lot. Then there were things they might want to do, like take a break from New Orleans and go on a vacation for a few days or go on a road trip to visit Hayley and Hope. 

When it came to actually getting a car, it was complicated, but not for the typical reasons. Freya had been taught how to drive by Elijah. He was the calmest and it took a lot to shake him. Then there was the fact that he was also the most patient, a definite plus since it had taken her a while to get the hang of it. It wasn’t a problem now though. 

Since her siblings had left, getting a car had been a little different. If it was Kol or Rebekah, they would pick a car and kill the owner. Elijah and Klaus tended to be subtler, compelling whoever they were getting the car from. Her siblings had taken all the cars when they scattered. It hadn’t bothered Freya at the time since she was used to walking everywhere and continuing to do so didn’t seem like that big a problem. 

Being a witch, when it came to getting a car, there were methods Freya could use, but being a Mikaelson drew enough attention to her as it was. Since she was the only one left of her family still in New Orleans, she wanted to be more discreet than they usually were. There was no shortage of family funds, but she cleared the purchase with Klaus this time. She hadn’t thought to tell her brothers before getting Keelin her apartment. Their apartment? _The_ apartment. She figured it might be a good idea, not to mention politer, to let someone know before she made a fairly large purchase. 

The only issue left was what to get. Keelin assured her the car didn’t have to be new, that anything was fine and they’d make it work. Freya, on the other hand, wanted something new. It didn’t have to be flashy, just reliable and require little in terms of upkeep. All the modern accessories would just be a bonus. They reach compromise of sorts and buy last years VW Jetta. Okay, fine, it’s not much of a compromise, it’s a newer car, but it’s used. Freya hadn’t wanted something that needed constant repairs or was held together with duct tape. This doesn’t mean those kinds of cars were their only option, but Freya wasn’t going to take that chance. She’d seen enough beaten and weathered cars around to know that they were a hassle and she didn’t want one. 

* * *

At the moment, Freya was parking the car, preparing to go grocery shopping. Keelin had gotten home less than an hour ago. After her shower, she’d settled in bed with a book and the laptop, not planning to sleep, just to get comfortable. Sometimes Keelin came home like that, exhausted yet wired at the same time. Giving the wolf a chance to relax on her own for a while, Freya had offered to go shopping. They had a list of their usual items on the fridge and as she took it Keelin told her she’d message her if she thought of any items to add. 

Freya grabbed a cart and pulled out the list once she was in the store. She started with the basics like eggs and milk and moved on from there. The first few times she’d done this on her own were a bit confusing. When she lived at the compound, one of her siblings would compel someone to keep their fridge and cupboards stocked. Actually, they compelled people to do most things when it came to the home’s upkeep. Freya had figured out grocery shopping without any help though. 

Right now, she was getting fresh produce. This part of the list was tricky. While the both enjoyed fresh fruit and vegetables, and having them as an option, with the way she tended to miss meals and Keelin’s odd hours, their produce usually wound up rotting in a fridge drawer. The same went for anything that might mold or spoil. Now, they try to buy only the amount they know they’ll eat. 

By the time Freya’s in the check out line she’s tired. Not physically tired, but she’s tired of all the other people, tired of the exhausted parents and their equally exhausted kids, but most of all, she’s tired of the irritating music that is playing in every corner of the store. 

That’s when she feels her phone vibrate in her back pocket. Pulling it out, she sees a message from Keelin. 

< _Can you get some trail mix with fruit in it? Thanks!_ >

Freya backs out of the checkout line to go find some. It takes her a while to find where the trail mix is and then a while longer to find one with dried fruit. Freya smirks as she sets the large bag in the cart. She guesses Keelin got tired of the vending machine taking her money. 

She's back and trying to pick the shortest line when her phone goes off again. Taking it out, there’s a new message from the doctor. 

< _Grapes?_ >

Rolling her eyes, she leaves the line again and makes her way back towards the fresh fruit. Seeing that she has two choices, she messages Keelin back. 

< _Green or red?_ >

Keelin’s response comes seconds later. 

< _Red_ >

Grabbing a bag of red grapes, she adds them to the cart. Thinking that they could get through a bag of grapes in addition to four apples and two pears before they went bad was optimistic. Still, maybe they could. Grapes could be eaten with one hand, so you could still work with the other and didn’t need to be cut up or peeled. 

This time she doesn’t even make it to the lines before her phone goes off again. Swearing under her breath, she yanks out her phone in irritation. 

< _Popcorn_ >

Sighing, she turns around again. Freya understands that popcorn is a staple when it comes to movies, but in her opinion, chips would work just fine. The only problem is that apparently, chips are a poor substitute, and to have the true experience, popcorn was needed. When she reaches the aisle, she looks over the boxes carefully. Normally, she’d grab the first box she saw and go, but that had turned out poorly before. There was something called “butter lovers” and it was a bright yellow coating that covered the popcorn. Freya had no idea what it was, but it was _NOT_ butter. It also spoiled the taste of the popcorn for her. From then on, she’d been very careful about what kind she picked. 

On her way back to the front of the store, Freya picks up some string cheese. Keelin has told her over and over that string cheese isn’t a meal. Freya often forgot to eat lunch, but she always made time for a string cheese during the day. At first, she hadn’t known what it was and that was unforgivable to Hope. So, from that point on, whenever Hope had string cheese as a snack, she made sure to get one for her Aunt Freya too. Now, whenever Freya had it, it reminded her of her niece. 

It should be noted, that before Freya started getting the wolf’s messages, she had already picked up a lot. She’d already gotten bread and a variety of ingredients for sandwiches, a bunch of spices and vegetables for when they had time off and made omelets, their usual cereals, some waffles, and a bunch of other things, including a twenty four pack of soda. 

The next time Freya’s phone vibrates, she has a decision to make. She can either not answer or chuck it across the store. Growling, she can’t do either in case one of her siblings or Hayley calls. She grudgingly pulls out the phone to read the latest message. 

< _String cheese and those cookies you like_ >

Damnit. Since Keelin was thinking of her, she was finding it very hard to stay mad. Making one last trip, she picks up the cookies she would have forgotten. 

No matter what happens, she’s not leaving the checkout line again. 

“Did you find everything you were looking for?” asks the cheery cashier. Freya bites back a rude reply and settles on her best death glare instead. The cashier doesn’t ask anymore stupid questions and starts bagging her items faster. 

* * *

By the time she loads the trunk and sinks into the driver’s seat, she’s exhausted and seriously contemplating never entering the store again. She’s driven half way home when she realizes something. She’ll have to unload the groceries. The thought of dealing with it all again nearly makes her cry. 

When she pulls up to the apartment, Keelin is outside waiting for her. Freya knows how tired Keelin had been when she left and that’s the only reason she says what she does next. 

“You feeling any better? I can unload all this…” Freya can’t stop the words from coming out, but surprisingly, she doesn’t regret them. She’s pushed herself harder in the bell tower, so she’s sure she can muster the energy from somewhere. Keelin gives her one of those gentle smiles that she’s beginning to suspect are just for her. 

“I’ve got it from here” answers the wolf. Freya nods and makes her way inside. Stretched out on the couch, she can’t find the energy to open her eyes, but she hears Keelin enter and exit as she brings everything in. Then she hears the trunk close followed by the front door. She’s about to get up and help unpack everything when the doctor tells her to stay put. 

“Next time, let’s review the list and add everything we can think of to it before we go shopping. If it’s not on the list, we’ll skip it. We can always go and pick it up later if we really need it” suggests Keelin. Freya agrees without a second thought. 


	4. 7 Year Gap x04 Unexpected Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freya's protections and spells should keep out anyone unwanted. They should keep them safe. Someone visits anyway. Told from both points of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question: Should I separate these stories that take place between seasons into another story? And then make season five a separate story as well? Would that be easier for everyone to keep track of things? Let me know in the comments.

_**KEELIN** _

Keelin wakes up first. Despite how hard Freya pushes herself to get things done all the time, when she sleeps, she sleeps soundly. That doesn’t mean she can’t be woken up, just that when she feels safe, she sleeps better. Except for when Freya pushes herself to the point of exhaustion, Freya tends to be a light sleeper. Actually, due to her time with her siblings, even when she can barely move, she’s still a pretty light sleeper. She’s gotten better about it though. Without her phone going off to alert her to another crisis, Freya sleeps longer and sounder. Nowadays, the only calls and messages she gets are from her, sometimes Vincent, or her siblings. Sometimes, her siblings call at odd hours due to the time difference, but otherwise, Freya gets a good night’s sleep most of the time, Keelin tries to make sure of it. 

Keelin tends to get up first out of habit. Most of the time, she works the day shift and has to get up early, but even on her days off, she tends to wake up before the witch. 

This particular morning though, she’s not sure what woke her up. The first thing she does is check on where Freya is. Turning to her other side she finds the blonde still fast asleep on her stomach. Unable to stop herself, she lets her fingers trail down Freya’s spine and grins when the witch hums into the pillow and scoots back into her touch. 

As much as she’d like to tease Freya awake, she still doesn’t know what woke her. Logically, she knows that whatever woke her, it probably isn’t a threat. Shifting to get out of bed, she nearly jumps out of her skin when something furry brushes against her leg. She barely contains her yell of surprise. Flexing her hands, she’s ready to attack whatever the hell it was that touched her. Bracing herself, she scans the room only to find nothing. That’s when it brushes against her leg again. Jerking her legs up, she looks down at the floor. There sits an orange striped cat. They don’t own a cat. 

Picking up the feline, she gives it a once over. It’s pretty well groomed, so it’s not a stray, but unfortunately, it doesn’t have a collar. Setting it back down, she wonders what it did to wake her. It didn’t meow, otherwise Freya would be up too. That’s when she hears the sound of tearing fabric and it makes her wince. Looking down at the cat, she sighs as it looks back at her and dares her to do something as it sinks it’s claws into the bottom bed sheet. Getting up, she grabs the cat and carries him outside and closes the door behind her. Having dealt with that, she goes to the kitchen to make coffee and starts to make breakfast. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

Freya gradually wakes up. She can smell coffee and something cooking. While that’s all well and good, after all, it means Keelin’s home, it also means Keelin isn’t in bed to cuddle with. That’s when something pats her shoulder. Turning to her head to the other side, she blinks owlishly at the creature looking back at her. It meows at her softly. 

“Keelin?” she calls out. The cat hasn’t moved but is now cleaning it’s paws. 

“I’ve got coffee ready. We’re just waiting on the toast and then breakfast is ready” the wolf calls back. 

“Keelin, c’mere!” she calls again. She hears the pad of Keelin’s feet on the floor until she reaches the bedroom carpet. 

“What—How did—” starts Keelin. 

“When did we get a cat?” she asks. 

“How did it get back in?” says Keelin. Freya is up in an instant. With all the protections and spells she has in place, the animal shouldn’t have been able to get in once, let alone twice. 

“Freya, relax. It’s just a cat” says Keelin in a calming voice. Freya pulls on her jeans and then makes her way around the apartment. She hears Keelin sigh in exasperation behind her and goes to turn off whatever she had cooking. As she starts checking for anything off with the windows, she kicks herself for even bothering with pants. If something was wrong with her work or no longer working, she’d rather find out about it now instead of when they’re under attack. Maybe she’s being paranoid, a cat would be a weird delivery system, but a little paranoia helps her stay prepared for just about anything. Except cats apparently. 

Only after checking every inch of the apartment, both inside and out, does she let herself relax. Slumping in one of the dining room chairs, she lets out a long breath. 

“So, are we okay?” asks Keelin as she sets a plate in front of her. Freya gives her a halfhearted glare. She’s about to say something, but Keelin beats her to it. 

“Yes, there is harm in being too prepared. Usually, it means losing you for days on end while you pour over all the books you have to find a spell you might have overlooked. I’ll tell you right now, I doubt you've overlooked anything since the last two times you went over everything. It’s just a cat.” Freya picks up her fork and begins to eat, but shifts her gaze to glare at the cat. 

“How did you get in here?” she hisses at the creature. The cat simply blinks at her. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

Before they buy a printer so that they can put up missing cat posters, the cat invades their home four more days. She puts the cat out sometimes three times a day. The only good… well, funny part about any of it is how riled up Freya gets every time the cat suddenly appears. The witch still hasn’t figured out how it’s getting in. 

By the time the posters are up, Freya is finally doing more than just glaring at the cat. She’s never looking directly at the animal, typically Freya’s reading a book when she does it. She lets her hand dangle over the side of the bed or couch and rubs behind the cat’s ears or it’s tummy. Keelin doesn’t know much about cats, but she’s fairly certain that cats aren’t the type of animal that likes to have their belly rubbed. 

It’s two days after the posters are up that Keelin gets a call on her phone. Freya’s phone is reserved for family and emergencies, so Keelin had put her number on the posters. If she told Freya that she’d put her number on the posters, the witch would probably explain how dangerous that was. In retrospect, it probably was a bit reckless, but someone had to be missing this cat. The orange bundle of fur was a sweetie, but their schedules were too busy for pets, which is why they didn’t have any in the first place. There was nobody to feed them during the day, clean up after they went to the bathroom, or walk them if they needed it. 

She had arranged to meet the owner in the park, figuring that if they wanted to attack her, it was better to be out in the open. It only then occurs to her that hadn’t stopped anybody before. She also knows that all of Freya’s caution is usually well founded. She’s having serious doubts about all this when she spots a young girl with a pet carrier walking towards her. She appeared nonthreatening, but the Hollow hadn’t looked more than sixteen. 

The cat, whose name is Bennie, is claimed by the young girl named Jenny. On the off chance that all of this went bad, she had left Freya a note on the counter. She keeps her cell in her back pocket and uses her enhanced senses to take in the surrounding area as the girl approaches. Fortunately, returning Bennie to his owner goes off without a hitch. Before she leaves, Jenny tells her that Bennie gets out a lot, but usually comes home. The only thing is that Bennie seems to like them, so he might show up again. Keelin asks for her number and promises to give her a call in case Bennie shows up. She goes around the town and takes down the posters, not wanting her number out there any longer now that everything had been dealt with. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

After reading Keelin’s note, Freya lets out a sigh of relief. Although she’d begun to grudgingly like the creature, she was glad it was gone. Looking around, she notices that the couch is absolutely covered in cat hair and the bed probably is too. After changing the sheets and brushing the couch, she feels like at least those two places are free of all cat hair. After grabbing a soda from the fridge, she settles on a stool next to the counter. She’d be mad at the wolf for putting her number all around town and going to a meeting without backup, but no matter how long she thought about it, she couldn’t see herself handling it any other way. She decided that eventually, she hoped she’d be able to stop seeing everything as a possible threat. Being a Mikaelson didn’t make that easy. She’s nearly finished her drink when she hears Keelin’s key in the lock. Turning towards the door, she sees Keelin come in. 

“Everything go well?” she asks, her worry gone now that the doctor is home. 

“Bennie the cat has been returned to his owner and is probably safe at home by now” answers Keelin as she sits on the couch. 

“So, that’s it, right? That’s the last time that furry little thing invades our home?” 

Keelin makes a face that Freya doesn’t like. 

“Not exactly…” says Keelin. 

Freya stands up, she doesn't like where this is going. 

“What do you mean, not exactly?” 

“Well, Jenny, the owner, said her cat gets out a lot. Since he likes us, he might come back” answers Keelin. Freya lets out a groan and sits back on the stool. “Look, the cat is happy and back at home. We probably won’t see him again, if ever, so-- Bennie??” says Keelin in shock. Freya turns and watches as the cat in question walks out of their bedroom. Damnit. 


	5. 7 Year Gap x05 Not Your Typical Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keelin has a bad day that has her memories rushing back. 
> 
> Told from both points of view.

_**KEELIN** _

Working at the clinic is tiring but fulfilling. Sure, the hours are long and usually made her feet hurt, but she was helping people, and that’s all she ever wanted. Most days were simple, nothing she couldn’t handle. Then there are days that are more difficult. The nearest hospital was quite a distance away, so when larger emergencies occurred, they dealt with those too, even if they didn’t have all the equipment to do so. On days like those, Keelin was usually called in, even if it was her day off. As much as she loved her time with Freya, if she could help, she wanted to. 

Thankfully, Freya understood. Freya’s passion was for her family and Keelin’s was to help those that needed her. For a while, that had been the Mikaelson family. If she could be further help to them, she would eagerly help, but for now it seemed that only Freya could do that. So, when she wasn’t working, she tried to be there for the witch. 

Freya was doing her best to be there for her too. For starters, the blonde was taking better care of herself. That may not seem like much to most people, but it was a big step for Freya and for Keelin, that was one less thing she had to worry about. 

Keelin had seen a lot of injuries in her time. There were the ones she saw in her medical textbooks and the ones she’d seen during her hospital rotations. Then there were the less common ones she’d seen. She’d gotten her first glimpse of them when members of her pack sometimes came back wounded. Some she’d experienced herself. She’d been running ever since her pack had been slaughtered, but occasionally those hunting her caught up. There were the ones she hoped she’d never see again. When she got back to her pack, they were all dead. Still, she’d gone through them all, hoping that there was a survivor somewhere in all the blood, someone she could save. There hadn’t been, and she probably lingered there too long, but she had to be sure. 

All while studying and training to become a doctor, she studied herself too. She couldn’t help her pack, but if she could help others like them, others like herself, she wanted to be able to do that too. They weren’t all selfless reasons though. She’d also wanted to see if there was a cure for her curse. She tried analyzing everything, from blood and bones to scans, just to cover all her bases. She knew she was risking her ability to practice medicine with her efforts to figure it all out, but if she found a cure, it would have been worth it. Or at least that’s what she thought at the time. It wasn’t until Freya gave her the ring that it hit her what she’d been risking. All her effort into becoming a doctor would have been for nothing. No one would ever hire her. Maybe if she hadn’t avoided the supernatural community she would have come by a ring sooner, but that didn’t matter now. She never would have felt comfortable taking that risk anyway. 

With everything she’s seen, one would think she’d be ready for anything, and she usually is, but not for days like today. 

She doesn’t even remember getting in the car after her shift. Turning around, she makes sure she remembered her bag. Seeing it in the back, she relaxes a bit. She also had remembered to change her scrubs, which is a relief. She didn’t want to bring any more of the day home with her that she had to and she didn’t want to alarm Freya. Resting her head against the steering wheel, she tries to hold back her tears. She’d have to have a clearer head if she wanted to drive home. She takes a few deep breaths. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

It had been one of Freya’s better days. After spending most of her day in the bell tower, she was winding down with a book. She could be watching a movie, but she only liked to do that with Keelin since she picked the best movies. Being able to snuggle up with each other was a big bonus too. 

They had a rule of not making dinner until they were both home. There was less of a chance of meals going cold that way. She closes her book with a sigh and picks up her phone. It’s a little after eight and Keelin was due home soon. Maybe they’d have a stir fry or she could make fish and a salad…

It’s twenty minutes later and she’s just beginning to worry, when she hears a key in the door. Keelin walks in and Freya can tell she’s tired. 

“How are you doing?” she asks and Keelin hums in response. Then she remembers something from earlier. “I think I left some stuff in the trunk…” she says as she starts to get up, but Keelin stops her with a hand motion. 

“I left the car at the hospital. I needed the air” explains Keelin as she leans against the counter. She’s about to say something else when Freya cuts her off. 

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing urgent” she assures her. Keelin point towards the bedroom. 

“I’m gonna go get a shower” says the doctor and Freya nods. If her phone didn’t ring right then, she might have given more thought to how hollow Keelin’s voice sounded. She’s just about to say something when the wolf gives her a small smile and points at the phone. “You’d better get that. It’s Rebekah” says Keelin. Freya looks at the phone and sees that it is her sister. Swiping at the phone to answer, she brings it up to her ear. 

“Bekah, hold on a second” she says quickly, but when she turns around, Keelin is gone. She can hear Rebekah asking her what’s wrong through the phone. Even if something was wrong, she has no idea what her sister expected to do. It wasn’t like she could get here in time to be helpful. Luckily, they weren’t in any danger. “I’m here. Everything’s fine. What have you been up to with Marcel?” she asks as she settles back down on the couch. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

She’s glad Freya’s phone rang when it did. Usually, Freya’s phone going off was an inconvenience, since it typically meant either someone was in danger and needed her help or trouble was coming. There was also the occasional call from her family. 

Either way, she was grateful, it keeps Freya distracted, and gives her a bit more time to herself. She didn’t want to explain everything yet. She goes and turns on the hot water in the shower before getting in. It takes longer than she’d like to get out of her clothes, it almost isn’t worth the effort, especially since it will take more than a shower to get rid of all this. Still, she has to at least attempt to wash off what she can. Climbing into the shower, she closes her eyes and lets the water pour over her. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

Freya spent the first half of the call telling her sister how things were in New Orleans, what she’d been working on lately, and how things were going between her and Keelin. Now it was her turn to listen to Rebekah as she recounts her travels with Marcel. She’s trying to listen, she really is, but she can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. Pulling her phone away from her ear, she glances at the time. It’s been almost forty-five minutes since Keelin went to shower and she still wasn’t out yet. Now, she was really beginning to worry. Her sister was mid-sentence when she interrupts. 

“Rebekah, I have to go” she says carefully, not wanting her sister to pick up on her worry. Rebekah does anyway. 

“ _What’s wrong?_ ” asks Rebekah politely. If she has to ask again, she’ll demand an answer or keep calling until Freya answers and tells her. 

“I’m… I’m not sure, but I think something’s wrong with Keelin. She was really quiet when she got home and…” starts Freya, but Rebekah cuts her off. 

“ _Go. We can talk another time_ ” answers her sister. Freya quickly says goodbye and heads to the bedroom. Keelin isn’t in bed and she can hear the shower still running. If they had a tub, she might think Keelin was taking a long soak, but they don’t, so all it does is increase her concern. 

Walking into the bathroom, the first thing she sees is Keelin sitting in the back of the shower, letting the water hit her. 

“Keelin?” she calls as she rushes to the woman’s side. Pulling the shower curtain back, she goes to place her hand on the wolf’s shoulder, but jerks back the moment the water hits her hand. “Keelin, the water is freezing!” she says as she reaches to turn the water off. The doctor is shivering slightly, but doesn’t seem to notice. Freya grabs a large towel and puts it around Keelin’s shoulders. As a doctor, the other woman knows better than to sit in icy water, but now Freya knows something is very wrong. “Let’s get you out of here, okay” she says softly as she helps Keelin to her feet. Getting another towel, she dries off her legs before using the large towel to dry her top. “C’mon, let’s get you in something to sleep in” she says as she leads her to the bedroom. Getting Keelin into her sleepwear isn’t hard at all. They’re sitting on the edge of the bed when Freya takes her hand. “Keelin, can you tell me what happened?” she asks softly. As she’d dried the wolf off, she’d looked her over for injuries but hadn’t found any. She's running her thumb on the back of the doctor’s hand when Keelin starts to speak. 

“It was… a really tough day today. We had a car accident. Two cars, but three people seriously injured. We had to get them in stable condition before we could send them to the larger hospital a few hours away.” Freya remains silent, her thumb still rubbing back and forth. Keelin shifts her gaze to their joined hands before continuing. “We… I couldn’t get them stable. Instead, I lost them all, one by one. There was a lot of blood when they came in, but you learn to look past it in order to help them. By the end though, that’s all I could see. They looked bad when they came in, but, I don’t know, you always hope there’s something you can do. If you can’t fix what’s wrong, you at least want to lessen their pain. One of the cars had a mother and son inside. The other just had one guy. I helped work on all three of them. Like I said, they were all really hurt when they came in, so my time working in ERs and hospitals was an asset today. Or at least they thought so. Still, we didn’t have enough people, not enough hands or experience. We’re just a clinic but we deal with whatever comes in as best we can. There are rumors that the city is going to build an ER here in a few years, but at the moment, it’s just a rumor. Even if it’s true, it’ll take time to build. So, until then, we try and manage, but on days like today, we don’t do so well. 

We lost the mother first. She’d been partially crushed in the accident, I’m guessing they had to cut her out of the car. We knew going in that saving her was a long shot, but we had to try. As soon as we lost her, I was trying to figure out how to tell her son, but then I was called on to work on the other driver. He didn’t… compared to the others, he didn’t seem so bad. A bunch of broken bones. We discovered the punctured lung early on, but he developed a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot that travels to a lung and causes problems.” Keelin lets out a long sigh. “That wasn’t great since we were already having problems due to the punctured lung. We tried to deal with it all, but we lost him too. 

I had a small break, about five whole minutes, before I was called on to help with the son. He had internal bleeding. Again, we’re not equipped for that, but we did our best. He died about fifteen minutes after I started to help. Thankfully, I wasn’t the one who had to tell the husband that he’d lost both his wife and child. All three deaths, from the time they were brought in, to when the last one died, it took a little less than two hours.” 

Freya doesn’t know what to say to that, any of that. When it comes to comforting people, she knows she’s not great at it. This? She knows there’s nothing she can say that will help. So, she stays close, hoping listening and her company will be enough. If Keelin needs something else, she’ll try to do that too. 

“It all… just brought back a lot of old memories” explains Keelin. Freya knows that memories can be the greatest of demons. She’s had more than her fair share and knows how memories can haunt a person without warning. She can listen though. Anticipating her offer, Keelin shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about them today. Maybe some other time, just… not today.” Freya nods. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

Keelin knows Freya’s next to her. She can faintly feel Freya’s thumb on the back of her hand. The rest of her is lost in memories. All the blood today had acted as a sort of trigger. The sight of so much, the smell of it all. It was an unfortunate trigger, given her profession, but she was a doctor and wanted to help people. It provided her with a sense of balance for the things she’d done and the things she’d seen. 

Her first kill, the one that triggered her curse, that hadn’t been her only kill. There had only been a few more that could be attributed to her wolf, but she remembers them. The blood, the bodies, all of it. Then there were her pack and her parents. She calls it a slaughter because there’s no other word for what she saw. It’s hard to forget all of that too. There had been nothing she could do for anyone in either case. 

Thankfully, she doesn’t have many days like today, days that leave her feeling helpless, days that bring it all rushing back. She lets out a long sigh, trying to breathe out what the shower hadn’t managed to wash away. She glances to the side and sees Freya watching her with concern in her deep green eyes. She leans against Freya’s shoulder and feels her put her arm around her. Oddly enough, it makes her feel a bit better when she thought nothing would. With a good night’s sleep and Freya beside her, she’d be okay. 


	6. 7 Year Gap x06 What Was It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freya and Keelin are kidnapped by yet another group that hates the Mikaelsons. Their plan is to use Keelin against Freya but not in a way they expect...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is based on a prompt I got and I hope I understood what they meant right and did it justice.

_**FREYA** _

Freya sighs. If they’d been fifty feet closer, they would have been inside her boundary spell. They’d been attacked in the parking lot. This also meant they’d have to probably move. Great. They’d been coming back from the park and had been grabbed before they really had a chance to react. Freya was cursing herself for letting her guard down while they were out in the open. When they were taken, they were thrown into separate vans. Whoever had attacked them had given this some thought. They also had been ready, since the next thing they did was put the cursed shackles on her, otherwise this would have been over with very quickly. 

The group attacking them were a bunch of vampires and a witch, all who thought they should get rid of the remaining Mikaelson in New Orleans. To be clear, they hated all the Mikaelsons, but Freya was the only one still around. They also thought she was easy prey and could be dealt with. While she was probably easier to capture than her vampire siblings, that didn’t make her any less lethal. Personally, she was tired of being abducted. The first time, Jackson had kept it from happening. The second time Lucien was responsible, and now it was a group with a grudge. She would have dealt with it and let it go. Their mistake was taking Keelin too, and she couldn’t forgive that. 

When the van finally comes to a stop, two vampires haul her out of the back. She struggles a little just to see who she’s dealing with. Two other vampires come from around the van. She might have been able to handle one vampire, with the shackles on it was doubtful, but there was no way she could take on four. It also meant the witch was with Keelin. That could mean a number of things, but with their current hosts, it couldn’t be anything good. 

“C’mon, we’ve got a hike ahead of us” growls one of them as he pulls her roughly. Freya stumbles but is yanked to her feet and is shoved along. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

So, normally Keelin’s an optimist, but there’s no upside to her current situation. She was in the back of a van with three vampires and a witch. Freya had been tossed into a different one. Sadly, this is the second time she’d let her guard down enough to be kidnapped, but she has a feeling this is going to be a whole lot less pleasant than last time. Last time hadn’t exactly been a picnic either. 

One of her abductors had hit her to knock her out to prevent her from struggling. Now she was bound with some kind of spell and had a headache on top of everything else. She knew there’d probably always be someone hunting her, but the witch’s presence made her think this had nothing to do with her. Which meant they were after Freya. Normally, Freya could take on just about anybody, but she hadn’t, which meant they were containing her somehow. 

“What’s your plan here?” she asks, knowing there was a good chance she wouldn’t get an answer. Maybe if she has an idea of what’s going on, she can be better prepared to help Freya. The witch stares at her for a long moment before surprising her with an answer. 

“You’ve probably noticed the full moon tonight? Well, we’re going to use it to our advantage” explains the witch. Keelin bows her head and swallows hard. She doesn’t like where this is going. 

“I won’t hurt her. And you have to know that if you do, you’ll have her family coming after you” she says, trying her best to not let her nervousness show. She can't move due to the spell, so there was no way she was escaping this and that only increased her anxiety. 

“We hope they come, in fact we’re counting on it. We could never take them on all at once, but now we can handle them one by one since they can’t come together. As for you, well, maybe you wouldn’t hurt her on purpose, but if you don’t know who she is, that might not be the case. Don’t think I didn’t notice that moonstone ring on your finger. When the time comes, I’ll be taking that from you” continues the witch. Now, Keelin feels just nervous enough to make her feel sick. The witch is right, if she doesn’t know Freya… well she’d do anything to keep from hurting her. The last thing she wants is to add Freya to her body count. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

This was stupid. This whole thing. Their plan, everything. Keelin would never hurt her, she’s positive of that. So, either her captors were holding something back, or they’re exactly as stupid as they looked. She was betting it was a mixture of the two. 

If they still had something up their sleeve, she couldn’t see what it was. At the moment, they were tying her to a large tree. Shaking her head, she’d kick herself if she could. It was happening again. She was letting her worry for Keelin mess with her thoughts. Keelin had already proven that she can handle herself, so Freya does her best to push the worry from her mind. Taking deep breaths, she tries to think. It’s a bit hard with these morons tightening the rope. At least they let her sit since she suspects she’ll be here a while. So, they have to be planning on using them both somehow or why take Keelin? All she can think of is them using Keelin against her in some way. If they planned on hurting her, they would have brought her here too. Okay, under what circumstances would Keelin hurt her? No matter how hard she racks her brain, she can’t come up with anything. The only way that would happen is if Keelin didn’t know who she was. Oh shit. Okay, okay, well, it would take more than just turning her into a wolf to get her to attack. That’s why they needed the witch. For some reason, one of the vampires puts a large blanket around her shoulders. She looks up, confused. 

“Can’t have your body going cold, now can we?” says the vampire. 

“Look, if you want to kill me, why don’t you do it yourselves. There are four of you. Any one of you could do it, so why not get it over with?” She knows they can hear the panic in her voice, but there’s no hiding it. The vampire shrugs. 

“I doubt your family will care about her as much as they do you, but your death will be enough to draw them here. As for her, well, this will get rid of you both at the same time.” It takes Freya all of a second to put it together. Keelin wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she did this. The other option was the vampires tearing her apart, just like what had happened to her pack. She didn’t want either of those for her, but with the shackles still on her, there was nothing she could do. Only then does she look up at the sky. It’s a full moon. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

The first thing she notices when they haul her from the van is that it’s a full moon. She knew the witch hadn’t been lying earlier, but she had hoped she was wrong anyway. She also knew it was a full moon because she kept track. She’d had the ring for a while now, so she really didn’t need to, but she’d spent so much of her life dreading the full moon that it was a hard habit to break. 

She spots the witch getting ready for a spell. It’s then that she really starts to struggle. She’s been fighting the whole time, but it only hits her now that this is really happening. That the witch has a way of making her do this, and if she and her vampire friends have their way, she’ll hurt or kill Freya. Based on what the witch told her earlier, they were going to do more than take her ring from her. So now she struggled and fought with everything she has. Still, even with her enhanced strength, she can’t put up much of a fight against three vampires. The rest happens fast. They take her ring and shove her to the ground. Then she starts to change. She feels her bones begin to crack and she can’t stand up even if she wanted to. Over the sound of her body changing, she can faintly hear the sound of the witch chanting her spell. The next thing she feels, besides the pain of changing, is anger and rage. She doesn’t know where it all comes from, but she can feel it surging through her. Now she’s fully in her wolf form, but she can still hear the witch chanting. Suddenly, she feels very alone, but still angry. Alone like she had when her pack had been slaughtered. Then she’s off hunting for someone to take it out on. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

She can hear something moving through the trees. She has to hand it to this group, by the time her siblings figured out something was wrong and got Vincent involved, there probably wouldn’t be much of her left. Well, there wouldn’t be much of her left after the wolf got through with her anyway. She uses the term _the wolf_ because it wouldn’t be Keelin anymore. Keelin would rather die than do this to her. Freya sighs. That might even be what happens when Keelin sees what she’d done. Even if Keelin never remembered her, she would hate that she killed someone. 

Freya’s family calls sporadically at best, so figuring out what happened would take time, if they ever did. That’s if Keelin didn’t call and tell them herself out of guilt. After all… this, Keelin would go home and find the photos of them in various places in their apartment and realize she knew the person she just killed. For all Freya knew, maybe that would undo whatever spell they put her under. Or maybe it would wear off in the morning and her body would be the first thing she was confronted with. 

Freya sighs again. As much as she was worried about Keelin after all of this, she wasn’t looking forward to being eaten. She’d only ever seen Hayley attack in defense of family, but what was left afterwards was never pretty. She really didn’t want to die this way, but there wasn’t a lot she could do. 

She can hear whatever is moving through the trees getting closer. It doesn’t take the wolf long to find her, but it was probably planned that way. When the wolf approaches, Freya’s pretty much given up, after all, there’s nothing she can do and the wolf clearly is ready to kill someone. The wolf is baring its teeth and snarling at her, but looking into those glowing amber eyes, she can’t do it anymore. This is more than just some random wolf, this is Keelin. She doesn’t look like the Keelin she normally sees, but there’s no mistaking it, it’s her Keelin. It’s then that she decides there’s one more thing she wants to do. She wants to tell Keelin goodbye. Who knows, maybe Keelin would remember it later. 

The wolf is pacing back and forth and still snarling. Shaking her head, she reminds herself that this is Keelin. So, she relaxes and begins to talk. 

“Just so you know, so that there’s never any doubt in your mind, this was entirely my fault, okay? You are in no way at fault for anything that has happened or is going to happen. What’s happening now is on me because I’m a Mikaelson and I’m sorry for ever dragging you into it. Usually, I’m pretty good about anticipating things, but I didn’t see this coming. I mean, I thought I had things prepared with the boundary and protection spells, but I should have thought farther than that.” 

Realistically, there probably wasn’t a whole lot else she could have done, not without making them prisoners in their own home. Not without her paranoia getting the better of her and undoing all the progress she’d made with Keelin’s help. She felt like she was finally living life and it was even better because she had someone to share it all with. 

“You’ve taught me a lot, and as much as I miss them, I don’t think I could have done all this if my family was still here. You’ve shown me that there’s a lot more to life than obligation. I have always seen it as my duty as the oldest to protect my family, but there’s more to life than that. When they come back, and they are coming back, one way or another, I might need you to teach me all about that again. If we get out of this. What I wanted to say was…” 

Freya takes a deep breath and blinks back her tears. If Keelin remembered any of this later, she didn’t want it to be her being sad or scared in addition to the guilt Keelin would already feel. Then there’s the fact she could never be scared, not of Keelin. So, Freya clears her throat and continues. She starts to try again, but can’t get her voice to work. She’d only said goodbye to Keelin once before, and even then, she hadn’t really wanted to. Then Keelin had surprised her by coming back. The next time Keelin prepared to leave, she hadn’t been able to say anything at all. She’d been able to fix things though, and Keelin had stayed. What made this so hard was that there was no coming back or fixing this. This would be the last thing she said to anybody, so she wanted to make it count and get out everything she wanted to say. Once again, there was so much she wanted to tell Keelin, so many things she still had to figure out the words for. So, she was going to do her best. 

“I want to say goodbye properly. I… I don’t think I’ve ever had the chance to say goodbye to anybody really. Not and get a chance to tell them everything I wanted to say. Not my father, not my brother Finn, not Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah, or even Hayley and Hope. They’re all my family, but you mean a lot to me too. I’ve never… expressed that to you very well, but it’s true. 

I still haven’t said it, have I? It’s harder than I thought. Do you know that you know me better than anyone, even my family? They don’t know all the effort I put into keeping them safe. I’m there when they need me, but I work at it even when they don’t know. You do. It’s you that need me now though, and I can’t help. You probably know me better than even I do. That’s the only way you could know what kind of books I’d love or movies I’d like. I’ve had so many new experiences with you. You once told me I could make my own life, remember? Before we went to the jazz bar? Honestly, I didn’t really believe you when you said it because it… well, it just didn’t seem possible. It is now, and most of that is because of you. Yes, I’m still working on a way to reunite my family, but I’m making time for myself and us. You’ve helped me do all this, I know for a fact that I couldn’t have done it without you. You always know what to say to make me feel better or give me a boost in confidence, somehow you just know. 

All of that is what’s making it so hard to say goodbye. That, and the fact that I really don’t want to. I don’t want this to be the end, but neither of us has a choice in that.” 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

She doesn’t know who this woman is or why she’s telling her all this while being tied to a tree, but for some reason she’s the only thing to be found in the entire area. She’s still angry and wants to kill something, but this woman wasn’t giving her any reason to. She was speaking calmly and didn’t have a trace of fear coming off her. So instead of ripping her throat out, she finds herself listening to everything she has to say. It’s very clear that she cares about the person she’s talking about. 

As she listens, she works out her aggression by pacing or going around the tree. She tries to work her snarl down to a growl, while the night begins to end. As the sun comes up, she can feel her bones start to break as she turns back into human form. But that’s not all that happens. Suddenly, she remembers who the woman in front of her is and realizes everything she’d listened to throughout the night was about her. Freya has her head turned away, trying to give her some privacy as she finishes changing back. She remembers everything. Everything Freya said, but also being kidnapped and what the witch and her friends had tried to make her do. She shakes her head clear. All that can be dealt with later, right now, her concern was Freya. 

“Freya?” she calls. Freya turns her head back to look at her. 

“Hey you” replies Freya with a smirk. Running her hands through her hair, Keelin takes a few deep breaths. She has no idea what Freya could be smirking about given everything that has happened. Everything that was supposed to happen. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she focuses on Freya again. The witch cuts her off before she has a chance to say anything. “You look like you could use this blanket more than me” she says as she gestures to the blanket on her shoulders with her chin. Keelin nods, and lifts the blanket, putting it around her own shoulders. Pulling the blanket tight around her, she goes and releases Freya from the ropes and shackles. 

“I didn’t—” is as far as she gets, before the blonde cuts her off. 

“No, you didn’t. My arms and legs are asleep, but you didn’t hurt me” assures Freya. 

“How did you know that I wouldn’t attack you? Did you know that talking to me would work?” she asks as Freya rubs at her legs, trying to get feeling back into them. 

“Honestly? I didn’t. I just… there were things I wanted you to know. I wasn’t sure you’d understand or remember, with whatever spell she used on you, but I hoped you would. Wait, did you?” asks Freya with a tilt of her head. Keelin nods. 

“Yeah, I did, and we’ll be talking about that later. Why— why weren’t you scared? And give me more than a shrug as an answer, please” she tells her. She knows that when Freya can’t find words, she tends to shrug, but right now she wants— she _needs_ a real answer. Freya shakes her head and shrugs anyway while giving her a small smile. Keelin wants to growl in frustration. “Freya…” 

“I don’t know what to tell you. I just… I’m not afraid out you. I knew- hoped that somehow, you’d remember what I was saying, remember me. I mean, yes, you were in wolf form, but it was still you. Under a spell, but still you. You could never scare me, Keelin” answers Freya. Keelin doesn’t know what to say to that and just stares at her. She’s never shown anyone her wolf, not willingly anyway. She doesn’t even trust herself that much, not when she’s in wolf form, and especially not when she’s under a spell with no control. She’s attacked before while in wolf form. Sport hunters, people hunting her on purpose, the odd other supernatural creature, and in one instance, someone discovering her. She hadn’t killed every time, but it was fair to say she’d done considerable damage. She spent years trying to contain her wolf or find a cure. All she’d ever managed was a way to slow her healing. She’s brought out of her thoughts when Freya put a hand out to her. 

“Let’s get out of here” says the witch as she helps pull her up. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

Keelin’s quiet while they make their way back to where she thinks she was dropped off. It occurs to her that they probably dropped Keelin somewhere else. They reach the spot but they only know it because they find tire tracks there. Keelin spots her phone tossed to the side. Taking her phone from Keelin, she’s grateful it wasn’t stomped on or run over. It still works and has power. She turns to Keelin who shakes her head. 

“I can get a new phone later” she says and Freya looks down at her phone and thinks of who they could get to help them. She calls Vincent. 

“Hey Vincent? It’s Freya and Keelin. Can you come and get us? What? No, I have no idea where we are…” she starts, but then Keelin takes the phone and does something that tells him their location before handing it back. “So, do you know where we are now? Great. Can you do us a favor first? Another favor then. Can you stop by our place and grab some clothes for Keelin? I don’t know, jeans and a sweatshirt. Hmm? No, the boundary will let you in, I adjusted it last time. No, I didn’t hide a key anywhere, does that seem smart to you? Figure it out and then come and get us, okay? Hmm? Well, we’re not exactly out here by choice. Look, I’ll explain later… later! Yes, I know how early it is, so thank you. See you soon” she finishes, finally hanging up. With a sigh, she turns to Keelin, who seems to have only just realized that they’re holding hands. Freya doesn’t plan on letting go anytime soon, so she gives it a tug and pulls her along. “Let’s meet him by the road, okay? Hopefully, we can find it before he gets here” she suggests. If it hadn’t been for the tire tracks, they would have had to let Vincent find them. Keelin still seems a little out of it, so they sit by the road and wait. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

They wait together, Freya still holding her hand, and it’s about twenty minutes before Vincent gets there. He politely hands her a change of clothes and goes to talk to Freya at the hood of the car, giving her some privacy. After pulling on the clothes, she feels a bit more human, more normal. Freya gives her the option of the front or back seat and Keelin goes for the back. 

Settling in, she leans back and closes her eyes. She can hear Freya and Vincent talking softly. As they continue driving back, Freya and Vincent’s voices get louder and then it turns into an argument. A small smile creeps onto Keelin’s face. She finds the sound of their voices comforting, even though they’re both aggravated. The two of them are getting along better now. She wouldn’t call them friends exactly, but they might get there. 

When Vincent drops them off, Keelin goes straight to their apartment and collapses in the bedroom. She hadn’t paid any attention to the spot where they’d been taken, she was simply too tired. She vaguely recalls Freya telling Vincent they’d have to move. She knows the blonde is right, but she doesn’t want to think about that right now. Freya’s a few paces behind her and comes over to tuck her in. 

“I’ll be back in a few hours, okay? You just rest” whispers Freya before kissing her on the forehead and leaving. She has no idea how the witch has any energy but then remembers that while she’d spent most of the night running and pacing, Freya had been stuck sitting tied up to a tree. She doesn’t want to think about that either, so she burrows under the covers instead. 

She doesn’t know how long it’s been when she hears Freya come home. She knows it’s Freya because she used her keys, but also has a distinct smell that is just… her. She doesn’t open her eyes, but she can feel Freya sit on the side of the bed. Keelin feels her pull her hand from beneath the covers and slip something on her finger. Opening her eyes, she looks at her hand. 

“My ring” she mumbles. “How’d you get it?” she hears herself ask. 

“Got it back from the witch and her vampire friends. Vincent helped me track them down” answers Freya. She can feel Freya running her fingers through her hair and it almost lulls her back to sleep, but then her mind processes what the blonde said. Opening her eyes again, she sees Freya watching her with a soft smile. Pulling her hand from her curls, she brings it to her mouth to kiss. When she pulls their hands back, she sees drops of blood on Freya’s sleeve. Freya follows her gaze. 

“Don’t worry, it’s not my blood” Freya assures her. Keelin sighs and tugs the blonde down on top of her. Freya hums and nuzzles close. Normally, Keelin tries to find a non-violent solution to things, but after what they’d nearly made her do to Freya, she would have killed them all too. She still doesn’t know why she didn’t hurt her. She remembers her time as a wolf. Remembers the rage she felt. She wants to think that she knew Freya’s voice, but she knows she didn’t, not until the sun started to rise. 

She remembers everything Freya said, even if she hadn’t known it was about her at the time. She’s still processing everything she heard. What she distinctly remembers, is how Freya blames herself for what happened. This time that was the case, but it could have just as easily been her own past catching up with her. They’ll have to sort a few things out later and find somewhere else to live. If she’d had more energy, she would have helped Freya deal with those that captured them. 

It still shook her. They had wanted her to kill Freya, but for some reason… She shook her head. She’d run herself in circles trying to figure out why Freya had felt safe. Besides, the threat had been dealt with. She tightens her hold on the tall witch to remind herself that she’s still there. Because if she wasn’t, it would have been her fault. She shudders at the mere thought of it. She’d been avoiding thinking about it, but now she can’t focus on anything else. 

She can feel herself begin to shake and Freya just curls in closer. Closing her eyes, she takes a few deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down. It doesn’t work, since all she manages to do is wake Freya instead. She’s a bit disoriented at first, but then she realizes that Keelin is shaking. Freya pulls back slightly and Keelin can feel her hand on her cheek. 

“Keelin? Talk to me, what’s going on? You’re shaking” she hears Freya say. She looks up at the blonde and can see concern in her green eyes. Concern but no fear. “Keelin?” Taking another deep breath, she tries to calm herself down again. She can still feel Freya’s hand rubbing up and down her cheek and concentrates on that. Eventually, she feels herself stop shaking. She looks at Freya again and sees her patiently waiting. 

“I’m… I don’t… I don’t know. Everything just sort of hit me all at once. What happened. What could have happened—” 

“But it didn’t—” interjects Freya as she takes one of Keelin’s curls around her fingers. 

“I just don’t know _why_ it didn’t happen. I’ve hurt and killed people before as a wolf, and I wasn’t under a spell then, nobody forced me. And I remember it all, every time it's happened. So, I’m scared and I don’t understand…” She’s interrupted when Freya leans down and kisses her. She can’t find it in her to respond because she’s still trying to figure things out. Freya pulls back and props herself up on her elbow to look at her. 

“Look, we can go over everything later and talk about what happened for as long as you want. We can try and make sense of it. It’s a lot, but I'm here. For the moment, I want you to focus on the fact that we’re both here, we’re fine, and I feel safe with you. But we also have to rest. We will figure this out though. If we need to, we can ask Vincent for help, he likes you better than me anyway” says Freya with a grin and Keelin can’t help a small smile before Freya continues. “Maybe we’ll reach out to Hayley and see if she has any ideas. We’ll do everything we can, okay?” 

Keelin nods, feeling a bit better. She knows it’ll be hard for her to let this go, but at least they have a plan. She's not sure it will help, but they can try it. They can talk to Hayley and Vincent, but she has a feeling that the answers have more to do with Freya than anything else. For now, she relaxes and feels Freya curl into her again. Putting her arms around her, she lets herself fall asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have a prompt you'd like me to do, either put it in the comments or send it to me through tumblr under littlesolo. I've got a few others in my inbox but I'll try to get to all of them... Thanks


	7. 7 Year Gap x07 Old Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freya and Keelin move to a new home and Freya drifts back into old habits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on two prompts:
> 
> "I can't get my nose to stop bleeding!"
> 
> and
> 
> "I'll be fine. I think. Maybe."

_**KEELIN** _

At the moment, Keelin is making her way to the bell tower. This past month had been really hectic. It had taken a little more than a week for them to find a new place to live. After the whole abduction thing, that was their top priority. Keelin helped look at listings and visit potential places between her shifts, but since she also needed to sleep to function, she left most of it to Freya. The witch knew the area better anyway. When they finally did find a place, it was a bit further out from the bell tower, but maybe a few blocks closer to the hospital. Closeness to the Mikaelson compound wasn’t really an issue anymore since being there without her family only made Freya depressed. 

They can’t find an apartment to rent anywhere. They would have settled for a slightly larger place than their last one, there was absolutely nothing available. Their last place, while they preferred to call it cozy, the more accurate term was cramped. Freya used to keep a lot of her stuff at the bell tower, but ever since she started trying to make more time for herself and them, she kept more things at home, using the bell tower only for work. All of Freya’s stuff combined with her own various things made the old place very crowded. 

When Keelin hadn’t arrived in New Orleans with much, she’d acquired a lot since then. She’d been on the run for a number of years and was normally prepared to leave everything behind. That was a little more difficult since she’d become an official doctor in Austin. There were various books she needed, reference books mostly, and then there were the few books she’d collected on creatures like herself. She’d had put different covers on them to disguise them from guests, so no one ever saw them, Still, she felt better having them handy, especially here where they could prove to be useful. She’d made the mistake of mentioning this to Freya. She’d forgotten how guilt sometimes gets to the witch. Freya hadn’t been the one to kidnap her, but she’d been responsible for her extended stay. 

So, Freya got her the books she needed. When it came to the books on being a wolf, those had been easier to get and Freya had gotten her the most recent copies. The medical and reference books weren’t especially hard to get, but it cost a lot for one, let alone more. She’s very grateful to Freya for it though. Keelin doesn’t make much and buying them all herself would have taken a sizable chunk out of her savings. 

The place they finally settle on is a small house. Once again, it has all the latest appliances and air conditioning, everything they need. There’s a bar counter in the kitchen, a decent sized living room, and a master bedroom with a bathroom attached. There were two spare rooms left over. One became a library of sorts with bookshelves lining every wall except where the large window was. The other room was for guests, on the off chance that Hayley and Hope visited, or anyone else for that matter. They crammed a bookcase in there too. 

It took three days to get them completely moved. If they were normal people, they would have let movers handle it all, but they weren’t and had too many things they’d rather not let the average person see. Instead, they get Josh and a few of his friends to help. It takes so long because Keelin still has her shifts. She offered to take a few days off, days she hadn’t really earned yet, but Freya didn’t want to take her away from the clinic. Instead, Freya went through everything to make sure nothing got missed. 

Getting things set up at the new place took longer than it had with the apartment. There was more paper work and dealing with the banks. It was a hassle, but she’d had a little fun watching Freya deal with everything normal people do. Before, her brothers had probably dealt with everything well before Freya joined them. Now, she listened to Freya’s frustration as the company setting up their wi-fi gave her a window between eight and noon, but didn’t show up until two. She had nothing but pity for the person that put Freya on hold, and was grateful she couldn’t cast spells through the phone. Probably. 

Moving in was complicated for the usual reasons. First there was the fun of discovering the various things they’d have to get around to fixing. They probably should have made time to repaint the place, there were lots of little projects. Maybe they would have made time for fixing things, but Freya was nervous about them being out in the open so long. At one point she might have said Freya was letting her paranoia get the better of her, but that was before everything happened. 

There had also been their shared anxiety from watching Josh and his friends move their belongings. Seeing them load the stuff that wouldn’t fit in the rented truck in their pickup and move it to the new place had been harrowing. Anything they regarded as important, they loaded into their own car. As they followed behind the other cars, they watched as their couch bounced and nearly landed on the street a handful of times. It got there okay though, as did everything else, they just decided it was better if they didn’t watch. Unloading seemed to include bumping every large object into every doorway. It took them a few more days to unpack things. Luckily, she’d had a day off during that time, but they were still tripping over boxes for a few days. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

They were never moving again. Not ever. If they were attacked again, she’d simply kill everyone involved and be done with it. Then she’d consult every witch she knew to add extra protection to their home. She’d do whatever she had to in order to avoid the stress of moving again. When she moved out of the compound, there hadn’t been much. This time, there was everything the two of them owned, which was more than she thought. 

This was an entirely new experience for her. When she’d run from Dahlia, she hadn’t taken much, afraid if she lingered too long, Dahlia would come back and catch her. When she woke up to warn her siblings about Dahlia, she hadn’t had anything but her pendant with her. When Hayley woke her after her five year nap, she still had nothing but her pendant. This was the first time she actually had belongings to move. She’d been surprised to see how many things she had to box up. She’d lived so much of her life either on the run or asleep, there hadn’t really been a need for many belongings or a way to keep them. When her family let her move into the compound, it was her first real chance to keep things. Old habits were hard to break though, so all she really held onto were clothes. Anything she regarded as valuable or that could be used against her or her family, she kept protected in the bell tower. Klaus had eventually seen that why she kept them there, not so that she could use the objects against them. 

Now, well, she wasn’t going out of her way to collect things, but she was holding onto more. For the most part, she left family related things at the compound, all except Hope’s stuffed toy that she’d found there on one of her bad days. She also kept a memento or two, but as much as she wanted to keep something of them close, it only served as a reminder of their situation and how she hadn’t gotten anywhere. 

Unsurprisingly, the thing she collects the most of are books. Keelin would add books to her Amazon cart every once and a while, and when there were more than a few, she’d buy them without question. Some people might read the story summary first to see if it was any good, but she trusted Keelin to know what she’d like, and so far, she’d loved all of them. 

I was while they were unpacking things that she came across her research notebooks on the Hollow. In the back of her mind, she knew she was supposed to be unpacking boxes, but she didn’t see the harm in taking a quick look at some of the post it notes she had sticking out of the sides. That’s when she sees it, a different way to come at things. 

“What do you have there?” asks Keelin from behind her. She looks over her shoulder at the doctor, but doesn’t put down the notebook. 

“Umm…” she answers. It’s not really an answer, but she’s searching her mind for a good way to say that she’s getting sucked back into everything with the Hollow. She’ll also probably be spending more hours at the bell tower. She’s coming up with nothing, but it turns out she doesn’t have to. Keelin peers around her shoulder, spots the notebook, and lets out a sigh. 

“Let me guess, new idea?” asks Keelin, slight exasperation in her voice. Freya can’t help the guilty look on her face, because Keelin knows what this means too. They both know that when she’s working on something, she gets hyper focused and tends to forget living essentials like eating and sleeping. It’s not like she hasn’t been working on the Hollow, it’s just been a while since she’s had more than research to go over, since she’s had a solid idea to work on. The only problem with all of this is that it has the potential to undo all the work they’ve done on breaking her old habits. With a sigh, she looks back at the notebook. This was more than some long shot though, it might actually lead to something she can build off of. She considers promising… something. Maybe not to work too hard, maybe to eat something every once in a while, maybe to sleep more than twice a week. But, she knows that while she means it now, she wouldn’t be able to keep her word. The last thing she wants to do is give Keelin the impression that her word doesn’t mean anything by making a promise she can’t keep. 

“I’ll start next week. That gives us four days to settle in” she says. She knows she’ll probably be thinking about working on the Hollow the entire time, but it was a compromise. And based on the smile Keelin gives her, it’s worth it. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

For the past two weeks, Freya had been working on her new theory. She calls it a theory because it sounds better than Freya calling it another last ditch effort. Freya’s been doing pretty good about keeping to her new habits. She gets at least two meals in her every day because they have them together and the same goes for sleep. Freya tries to get home between six and eight, about the same time she gets off her shift, and has pretty much stuck to it. Until today that is. 

Keelin had come home to an empty house, but waited a half hour before heading to the bell tower. Going up the stairs, she’s not sure what she’ll find. Hopefully, Freya’s made some progress and simply lost track of time. The only problem with that is the fact that if she’s making progress, she usually takes it as a sign that she can relax a little. Staying late typically means Freya’s getting frustrated and trying things for a second, maybe a third time. Thing is, by the second time and definitely the third, when she’s tired, she’s stumbling over her words and having to force her focus. 

Reaching the top, she walks into the main room and sighs. There are notebooks and spell books spread out everywhere, but at the main table is Freya with blood coming out her ears, nose, and starting to leak from her eyes. It’s been going on a while too, judging by the pool of blood on the floor and table edge. She holds back a sigh and walks further into the room where Freya notices her. 

“Oh, um… hey, I uh… I can’t get my nose to stop bleeding”’ says Freya. 

“Could it be because you’re still pushing yourself too hard?” she asks as she makes her way to Freya’s side. Freya wipes at the corners of her eyes with her hands, but only smears the blood on her face. She puts a hand under Freya’s chin, tilts her head towards her, and frowns. “Your nose is swollen, that doesn’t normally happen, does it?” She carefully presses her fingers along the sides of Freya’s nose, but doesn’t miss her wince. “It doesn’t look broken though…” She’s still looking at it closely when Freya moves her head away and looks down at the floor. “Freya…” Freya looks embarrassed and it’s a rare look on her. 

“I… I may have slipped in the puddle a little when taking a short break and uh… hit my face on the edge of the table… But I’ll be fine. I think. Maybe” assures the witch. Keelin smirks a little. 

“Let’s let the doctor be the judge of that, okay?” she says. Freya still look at her, still feeling embarrassed. “Did you put ice on it?” she asks, already knowing the answer. Freya shakes her head. She goes over to the fridge, but the best she comes up with is a cold bottle of water. “Hold the bottle to the bridge of your nose while I get the first aid kit. You are very lucky you didn’t break your nose, by the way. You just kept working after you hit it?” Freya gives half a shrug. 

“I figured it was already bleeding… but now it won’t stop” explains the blonde. Keelin opens the kit on the table and then spreads some paper towels on the floor to mop up the blood. The kit is stuffed mostly with alcohol wipes, since that’s what’s typically called for. She gets Freya to take a seat on a stool and starts wiping off the blood. 

“It doesn’t work. My little discovery from my notes is another failure” says Freya softly. 

“Hey, I thought weren’t going to use that word. You’re still trying, and that counts for something. This was just another attempt, and it won’t be your last, but I think we should call it quits for today and maybe take a break tomorrow. Give your nose a chance to recover some, since pushing yourself further didn’t really help it out.” Freya looks ready to say something, but thinks better of it. “What?” she presses, but the blonde shakes her head. 

“Nothing, you’re right. Hey, is this bleeding going to stop soon?” She shoots Freya an amused look and hands her some paper towels before answering. 

“I honestly don’t know. I mean, normally your nose bleeds are due to you using magic, but this time you added a physical injury to it. Then you kept working, which may have aggravated the wound. It’ll probably stop soon though. Hold one of those to your nose and use the others to wipe down the table. I’ll get the floor” she answers. Then something else occurs to her, something she should have asked earlier. “Do you have any other symptoms?” Freya frowns as she thinks for a moment. 

“I’m a little light headed, but that’s probably because of my spells” she answers Keelin hides her wince. Freya’s light headed feeling could also be due to blood loss, but given the amount of blood, it probably is due to the spells. It’s still enough to be alarming though. For her, it’s not so much the amount of blood, although that concerns her too, it’s where it comes from. She’s not too worried about it when it comes from Freya’s nose, since that happens pretty often. She’s seen it from the ears only a handful of times, but she’s only seen it come from the eyes once before. Bleeding from the eyes means that Freya’s pushed herself way past too hard. 

That time, she’d only been there by chance. She’d just finished with the emergency the clinic had called her in for and decided to drop by the bell tower. It was luck that she reached the top of the stairs when Freya had started to wobble at the table, and then caught her as she fell. This time they were lucky Freya hadn’t broken her nose. She cleans up the blood on the floor and shakes her head. Given how things had gone the last time Freya had been on the verge of a breakthrough, she should have taken the day off to make sure she was okay. The only problem with that, was that there was really no way of knowing when Freya would push herself too far. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

She thought she’d been doing fine. Up until today, she had been. She’d been getting home at a decent hour and remembering to eat. Today, well, today had been different. Today she’d thought she was this much closer to bringing her family home. It didn’t work out though. Not only had she not made any progress, she had undone all the work she done at developing better habits. She sighs as she wipes the table clean, not noticing the look Keelin gives her. She’d failed on two fronts. With a frown, she grabs another handful of paper towel and goes back to scrubbing the table. She was tired of Keelin having to look after her. They had fun, but sometimes it still felt like a lot of their time together was Keelin looking after her in some way. Keelin’s voice interrupts her thought. 

“Don’t worry about this, okay? This is just a hiccup. This is just an off day, and we’ve had those before, you and I both have. We’ll just pick up where we left off tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow in your case. Give yourself some time to heal up. But we’ll just forget today happened” says the wolf. Freya tries to smile, but can’t get her mouth to cooperate. 

“I still failed at finding a way to reunite my family… again” she mutters softly. She forgot about Keelin’s wolf hearing, so despite how softly she’d said it, Keelin heard her anyway. 

“What did I just say? Today was a bad day, but you’ll have better ones and I still believe you’ll figure this out. At the moment, your family is safe and happy, and that gives you time” says Keelin. Once again, Keelin had said just the thing to make her feel a bit better and this time smiling isn’t so hard. After cleaning up, Keelin drives them home. The cleaning had taken a bit longer because her nose was still bleeding a little. By the time they’re in the car, it’s down to just a few drops. 

When they get home, she offers to make dinner, but Keelin gives her one of those looks that clearly says no and to sit down. Doing just that, Keelin hands her an ice back to hold to her nose. 

“Keep that on there. I don’t know how much good it’ll do after all this time, but maybe it’ll still help with the swelling. You might have two small black eyes tomorrow, I don’t know” explains the doctor. Freya sighs. She’s still trying to push her guilt away. What Keelin said had helped, but she still felt a bit down. Her siblings all call every so often, even Kol, and they always ask her how she’s doing. She knows they’re not asking about her progress, they’re asking after or her and Keelin, but she feels obligated to give them an update anyway. 

Then there’s Keelin. Initially, it had been nice, she’d never been cared for like that before. She knew her family loved her, but being the oldest meant looking after the others, and that was something she was good at. Then she thought about it again and shook her head. If she was any good at it, she would have beaten the Hollow on one of her many tries and it wouldn’t be a problem now. 

“Hey, stop that” says Keelin, yanking her from her thoughts as she sets a plate in front of her. Freya had been so deep in thought that she’d forgotten about the ice she was holding and now her nose felt frozen. She starts eating, but she can’t stop thinking about her impact on the wolf. “You’re still scowling at the table, you know. Look,-“ Freya cuts her off. She’s done wallowing and wants to get this out. 

“I’ll take tomorrow off. I should have stopped after I fell, but I thought I was… no, no, I knew I wasn’t getting anywhere anymore, I just… couldn’t bring myself to stop. I’m sorry and I’ll take better care of myself. You have whole days of taking care of people, you shouldn’t have to do it when you come home too.” She stops when Keelin takes her hand. 

“I told you, today was just a bump in the road. Everyone has off days. As for taking care of you, you’ve gotten a lot better at taking care of yourself, I can see that. Don’t worry about it right now. I know that’s hard for you since you tend to worry about everything. You’re getting better about that too. You’re able to relax more, and I notice that too. Just forget about today. You’re not falling into old habits” says Keelin. 

Freya nods and this time feels a bit more confident. Taking a day off didn’t sound too bad, especially since her nose still hurts a little. She could hunker down with one of her new books and forget about everything else for a while. Get lost in a fictional world for a bit. Or maybe just an old one. Keelin had gotten her a few interesting history books so that she could catch up on a few things without resorting to a high school textbook. She could deal with this set back though. She’d move on and try again in a few days. She wonders if Keelin has tomorrow off too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure I like this chapter and I might do it again later... Let me know what you think if you can....


	8. 7 Year Gap x08 Something Just Freya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A requested follow up to What Was It? Keelin is still trying to figure things out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also based on the prompt: I called you at 2am because I need you

_**KEELIN** _

She’s been at the clinic since eight that night. It’s a little after one in the morning when she’s able to get a few minutes of sleep in the on-call room. Somehow, no matter what day it was, or what hours she wound up working, the clinic tended to always be busy. Lately, that had been a good thing. The move had taken her mind off things for a while, and work always does because it needs her full focus, but when everything quiets down, her mind keeps going back to what’s bugging her. 

Unlike most things, she couldn’t let this go. Freya took care of their attackers that same day and then they had moved to stay safe. That should have been the end of it, but she hadn’t figured anything out. Freya didn’t seem worried about it, and for some reason, that infuriates her. 

Freya had promised they could look into it though. So, first they talked to Hayley. They set up a video chat on the laptop and set it up in the bedroom. Freya let them talk alone, staying close in case they had any magic related questions. She didn’t really want to think about it all again, but it was constantly on her mind, and she had to recount everything for Hayley for her to truly understand. When she finished telling her it all, Hayley gave her a look she couldn’t read. Before she could ask her about it, Hayley moved on to various questions she had. Unfortunately, she had few answers for her. Keelin was very familiar with what being a wolf involved, as well as their physiology and biology. She’d analyzed it all very closely in her attempts to find a cure. Sadly, nothing she had medically helped at all with what she wanted to know. The two of them had fallen into silence while they continued to think. She’s about to apologize for wasting her time, but when she looks up at the screen, Hayley’s giving her that look again. 

“What? Do you know something?” she asks. Hayley continues to appraise her for a moment before answering. 

“What have your previous romantic relationships been like?” asks Hayley. Keelin had considered this train of thought before, but hadn’t followed it far because it made her nervous. It meant taking a deep look into what she and Freya meant to each other. 

“I used to move around a lot, never staying in one place more than a year, so that made relationships difficult. I dated some, but it didn’t seem fair to let things get things get serious since I wasn’t planning on staying long. I also didn’t want to share my wolf with anyone. It’s hard to build that kind of trust with anyone in a short period of time” she answers. 

“So, this is sort of your first serious relationship…” pushes the hybrid. She nods but looks away. 

“I’m happy with Freya, but it’s also the longest I’ve ever stayed in one place. I’m protected here.” She’d been in New Orleans for nine months now. The longest she’d ever stayed in one place was eight. For the past month and a half, she‘s had to remind herself about a million times that she’s safe here, that she didn’t have to run anymore. She’s been settled and moderately happy before, but this, what she had here, was what she’d always hoped for. She was in a relationship with someone who she didn’t have to keep secrets from, who knew all of her, and that she didn’t have to leave to keep herself or them safe. Not only that, but she was helping people at the clinic while a hospital was being built not too far away. Still, even with everything she had with Freya, she was still tempted to run. It’s what she’d spent her whole adult life doing, so staying in one place for so long may her uneasy. 

Hayley brings her out of her thoughts by clearing her throat. Keelin looks up and shrugs. 

“Staying in one place makes me nervous” she explains. Hayley nods, somewhat familiar with that feeling herself. 

“What about being happy?” asks Hayley. 

“It’s something I’ve always wanted, but now that I am, it feels… I don’t know, too good to be true? So, it also makes me nervous. There a lot of things about this relationship that are new and make me nervous.” She doesn’t know what else to say or if there is anything else to say. 

“Freya cares about you a lot, you know” says Hayley. She knows that, she does, Freya tells that to her in her own way, but it’s also nice to hear someone else confirm it. 

“I care about her too” she answers. Hayley gives her a soft smile, but a look that says that’s not what she meant. 

“My point is, I think that played a role in what happened. I can’t come up with any wolf reason why you didn’t attack her. I mean, maybe you recognized her scent, but the spell should have prevented that. What else are you doing to figure this out?” asks Hayley. 

“Freya and I have been doing some research, but we’re going to see if Vincent can come up with anything” she replies. Hayley nods and looks at something off to her side. 

“Think about what I said, okay? I think it has more to do with how much she cares about you than it does about magic or being a wolf, but that’s just my opinion” finishes Hayley. Keelin nods. 

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking that too…” she admits. It’s the first time she’s acknowledged it out loud. 

“Well, now for something completely different. Can you call Freya? I’ve got someone who wants to talk to you both…” says Hayley as she beckons someone off camera towards her. Muting the call for a moment, she calls Freya. She hears something thud in the other room, she assumes it’s a book, and then about a minute later, Freya’s settling in next to her on the bed. 

“Hi Keelin! Hi Aunt Freya!” shouts Hope as she crawls onto Hayley’s lap. Keelin winces slightly at the loudness over the speakers, but it doesn’t matter, they’re both happy to see Hope. She hadn’t gotten to know Hope very well before she and Hayley had to leave. She’d only had that one night where she’d looked after her. Later, things had either been too hectic or the Hollow had her. Now, she was getting to know her a bit better. Hope had grown a few inches since she’d left and loved telling her and Freya about everything she’s learning and showing them new drawings and paintings she’d made. Keelin held Freya’s hand whenever they talked to Hope. She knew Freya missed all of her family, but talking to Hope tended to hit her especially hard. 

They had shared a lot with each other, but she has a feeling there are still a few major events in Freya’s life that they haven’t covered yet. Events that Freya had mentioned in passing or alluded to, events that Rebekah had hinted to. She wants to know, but will wait for Freya to share when she’s comfortable. She suspects one of those events explains why having Hope so far away hurts her so much. 

* * *

It’s a while before the two of them are able to get together with Vincent. They meet him at Rousseau’s the next time she has a day off. Once again, Freya offers to let them speak alone, but this time she wants her to stay. Magic is Freya’s area of expertise, so she’d like her to be there to brainstorm with Vincent. They’re there a couple of hours, coming up with everything they can over a few drinks. What it comes down to is, that without knowing the exact spell, they couldn’t do any more than guess why she hadn’t attacked. Keelin had no idea what the spell was, she hadn’t been able to concentrate since she’d been changing at the time. Sadly, Vincent has no ideas since without knowing more, it could be more than a handful of spells. The research she and Freya had been doing had told them pretty much the same thing, leaving her frustrated and left with a dead end. Well, with nothing other than what Hayley said. 

Any time she’s left with her thoughts or exhausted, her mind drifts back to all this. So, now that she’s exhausted and alone in the on-call room, it’s really no surprise that she’s thinking about it as she drifts off. She should have expected the nightmare too, she’s been having them fairly often. Most dreams she tends to forget or don’t bother her. These are more than dreams though, more than just nightmares. In her nightmares, she sees what could have happened. 

Her coming out of the spell and seeing Freya with her throat ripped out, torn to shreds by claws and teeth, and blood on her hands. Freya’s blood everywhere. Usually when she wakes up, Freya is asleep right beside her. She thought she’d find that comforting, but the nightmares are so vivid, it takes a while before she stops seeing Freya’s blood dripping from her hands. This time when she jerks awake, Freya isn’t there. It takes her a moment to remember that she’s at the clinic. Grabbing her phone from her pocket, she hits speed dial and waits while it rings. She has to be sure. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

She’s yanked awake by the sound of her phone vibrating on the bedside table. Some might be able to sleep through it, but ringtones irritate her, and after all this time, she’s gotten used to the sound. As she blindly grabs for her phone, she really hopes it’s not one of her siblings. As much as she loves them, she loves sleeping too. Glancing at the screen, she notices two things: it’s two in the morning and it’s Keelin, who should still be at the clinic. Sitting up, she swipes at the screen to answer. 

“Keelin? You okay?” she asks. It’s a moment or two before the wolf responds, but by then she’s wide awake. “Keelin?” she tries again. 

“Freya…” sighs the doctor over the phone. Freya waits. Keelin sounds tired, but rough. Finally, Keelin speaks again. “Can you talk to me for a bit?” Freya nods, forgetting that Keelin can’t see her, and begins to talk. 

“Well, today I went back through some of Ester’s grimoires today to see if I could combine anything, but nothing’s changed since the last time I consulted them. It’s been a while since I looked at them though, based on how much dust was on them. Enough to have me sneezing for about twenty minutes. 

I’m also still working on the same book that I started about a week ago. I must be more tired than I thought recently, because I keep trying to read a little before bed, but I either wake up when I drop the book on my face as I fall asleep, or wake up with face pressed against the pages. Either way, it’s a problem because I don’t remember what I read before falling asleep. I think I’ve read the same twenty pages five times now, but I have no idea what they say. 

Oh, and I had a yogurt earlier. Don’t eat them. I thought I was eating one with fruit in it, only to discover that all we have is plain. Turns out, what I ate was possibly mold. I felt fine until I found that out. Now my stomach feels uneasy, but it’ll-“ 

“Freya, someone just came in and they need me. I have to go. But Freya? Thanks. I’ll see you at home” interrupts the doctor. She hangs up before Freya can respond. 

She rests against the pillows for a moment. Keelin had been having a rough time of it lately. Recently, she’d been having nightmares. More than once she’d had to wake Keelin out of one or was woken up as Keelin woke bolting upright, sweating, and trying to catch her breath. The doctor didn’t want to discuss her nightmares, but judging by how she gazed at her hands after waking up, Freya suspected she knew what they were about. Sometimes, she tries to takes Keelin’s hands only to have her jerk back, still stuck in the aftermath of her nightmare. Based on that, she’s guessing that whatever Keelin was seeing was as vivid as the time the Hollow had gotten in her head. Picking up her phone, she sees it’s now three thirty in the morning. She doesn’t know what to do after nightmares, she still trying to figure out what to do after her own. She knows what she can do right now though. Throwing off the covers, she gets dressed, grabs her book, and is out the door by four. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

She feels better having talked to Freya Despite how she’d felt and how little she’d said, Freya had made her smile, made her laugh. With how vivid the nightmares are, she’d feel better if she could actually see her, but just hearing her voice was enough for now. Shaking her head clear, she follows the nurse who came to get her. Right now, she needs to focus on work. 

* * *

Between helping people, she sometimes goes by the nurse’s station to check on things. Things get backed up, blood work, test results, that sort of thing. From the nurse’s station you can see some of the chairs in the waiting area. On one of her stops there, she turns and does a double take. She could have sworn she saw Freya sitting in the chairs drinking vending machine coffee and reading a book. Before she can be sure, she’s called away. The next time she’s able to check, there’s no sign of the witch, and she wonders if she just imagined her. 

When her shift ends at seven, she changes into her regular clothes and makes her way out the front. Maybe she hadn’t imagined her earlier because Freya’s in the chairs again, reading her book, sipping a drink with another one beside her. Freya doesn’t look injured, but with her, you never know. 

“Hey, are you alright?” she asks. Freya looks up at her and smiles as she marks her place with a bookmark. She gets lost in Freya’s green eyes while she waits for a response. Just her smile makes her heart feel lighter. 

“I’m fine. I also understand what’s happening in my book now” she answers. Keelin smirks as she remembers what Freya told her earlier on the phone. Somehow, Freya had known to keep things light during the call, not to focus on her work or other serious topics, and for that she was grateful. “Got you this” continues the blonde as she hands her a large cardboard coffee cup. She puts her hands up instead. 

“Thanks, but after the night I had, caffeine is the last thing I need right now” she replies, feeling a bit bad because that’s probably where Freya was when she had looked over at the chairs a second time. 

“Good thing it’s a smoothie then. A mixed berry one. The cardboard is just keeping it cold” answers Freya, still smiling at her. Keelin returns her smile as she takes the drink. Settling down in the chair next to her, she sighs before taking a sip of her drink. She can’t explain the relief she feels at having Freya here right now, but Freya seems to know anyway and takes her hand, giving it a squeeze. They sit there drinking their smoothies for a while before Keelin speaks. 

“What time did you get here” she asks softly, fiddling with her cup. 

“Around four thirty. I went out for a bit to get our drinks, but otherwise I’ve just been sitting here reading my book” answers Freya as she looks at their hands. 

“I’m sorry if I scared you earlier. Sorry for waking you up, too. I only realized the time later” she explains. Freya shakes her head and squeezes her hand again. When she looks up, Freya’s looking at her with one of her special smiles. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been meaning to figure out exactly what this book is about, but every time I sat down to read it, I’d forgotten what I read before. So, I just started from the beginning again. Things are clearer now and make much more sense” explains the witch. She can’t help but smile. Despite the time she’d called, waking her up, and the worry she’d probably caused, Freya refused to let her feel bad about any of it. 

“Let’s go home and get some sleep” she suggests. 

“Okay, but I’m driving. You look like you can hardly stand up” says Freya as she pulls her keys from her pocket. It only occurs to her then that Freya had to walk to the clinic. It’s when they’re in the car on the short drive home, that she considers Hayley’s words again. This was her first serious relationship, the first one she’d ever let herself be in. It’s not like she’d never had feelings for someone or never wanted to be in something real, it just was never safe before and she never stayed long enough for anything serious. 

From what she gathered from Hayley and Rebekah, it was Freya’s first serious relationship in centuries. It was a first for both of them. Sometimes, the intensity of her feelings for the other woman frightened her. She wasn’t the only one who felt this way though. When it came to most things related to their relationship, Freya still had tells. Whenever Freya got really nervous, she’d find something for her hands to do. Keelin still found it as adorable as she had when they first got together. 

The last time they’d had a deep conversation about what they were to each other was shortly after they moved into the house. The discussion had gone into the early hours of the morning, but by the end, they realized they were on the same page when it came to what they were to each other. They’d both been afraid of things. Freya had been afraid that her family and their constant state of crisis would scare her off. She’d been afraid that her past would catch up with her and that her various secrets would be too much for the witch. They’d both been wrong. 

Their conversation had gone well, but afterwards, Freya had been full of nervous energy that she got out by reorganizing her books at four in the morning. Fortunately, she found that cute too. 

Then there were the little things. Like Freya not minding being woken up at a ridiculous hour just to talk and then showing up just to be there for her. She turns and watches Freya as she drives. Freya notices after a few minutes and raises an eyebrow at her. 

“What?” asks Freya as she gives her a side glance. Keelin gives her a bright smile. 

“Nothing” she answers. Since this was new ground for the both of them, they were taking the time to figure things out. One thing she might have just figured out, with a little help from Hayley, is that what she has with Freya is special. It didn’t mean she thought what they had was more powerful than magic, just that the spell that night hadn’t taken into account how much they meant to each other. Maybe she had known it was Freya on some level. Whatever the reason, she was going to stop questioning it and chalk it up to being something that was just uniquely Freya. 


	9. 7 Year Gap x10 Trouble on All Fronts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're both in a bit of trouble, but can only handle one thing at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Can you do a funny one that involves Keelin's past and maybe Freya in trouble?
> 
> SIDE NOTE  
> I deleted the chapter that was here before because it was rushed and it could be better. I'll repost it when it's been fixed.

_**FREYA** _

Vincent sometimes has Freya help with community things. She understands that he’s trying to bring some peace between everyone so she helps in whatever way she can. She didn’t get all the specifics this time, only that something was going on and it led to an abandoned house. Fortunately, Vincent had been able to narrow it down, since there were numerous abandoned houses. 

She’d walked into the house and was immediately assaulted with so much dust she’d had a cough attack. She might have doubted whether anything was kept here based on all the dust, but it was exactly the type of place someone would. With a sigh, she takes in the house. There’s a second floor and a basement, so she’ll be here for a while. She goes to check upstairs first. 

She’s gazing out the bedroom window when her phone rings. She answers without glancing looking at who it is, assuming it’s Vincent. 

“I just got here, but I haven’t found anything yet. Do you want me check under the floorboards too? I’m not being sarcastic about that, the floor boards might actually be a good place to look.” 

“Freya, I think I’m being followed. I can’t be sure it’s them, but I think they’re some of the vampires tracking me. I thought I lost them before I got to Austin, but it looks like they’ve caught up with me. I’ve been safe here so long I kind of forgot about them. If two of them are here, then the rest are here too or not far behind. With my ring I can take on some of them, but there might be more than I can handle. I don’t know.” Due to the panic in her voice that she’s trying to hide, and having expected it to be Vincent, it takes her a moment to realize it’s Keelin. 

“Where are you right now? Are you safe?” she asks as she turns away from the window. She’s trying to think fast about what she can do from where she is. Coming up with nothing, she makes her way towards the stairs, preparing to meet Keelin. 

“I think I’ve lost them for now, but I’m not sure. I think I’m safe at the moment, but I know I’m important to them.” 

“Yeah, well, you’re important to me too because I love you. Okay, you have the car, so it might take me a while to get there, but I’m on my way.” She’s almost to the stairs when she hears the floor creak right before it breaks beneath her. She barely gets a yell out before her legs go through the floor. The phone drops from her hand as she falls, but thankful doesn’t go through the floor. It lands about a foot away and she can hear Keelin frantically asking if she’s alright. 

“Keelin, Keelin, Keelin! I’m okay. No one’s attacking me, I’m fine. I think I can pull myself up.” Shit. She hadn’t meant to say that last part, but it’s too late. 

“Pull yourself up from what? Freya, what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing big, I just… this place is older than I thought. I kind of fell through the floor.” 

“Are you okay? Did you break anything? Are you bleeding? How far did you fall?” Keelin’s asking the questions so fast she can hardly keep up and hold herself up at the same time. 

“I didn’t exactly fall…” 

“I thought you said you fell through the floor?” 

“I did! I did, just not all the way through. I’m kind of stuck dangling here with my arms holding me up” she answers, trying not to make it sound worse than it is. 

“Let me get this straight, you’re hanging through the floor. Where are you? I’ll come and help you up.” 

“Um… the address is on my phone and it’s over there. I’d rather not try and reach for it. Also, if you hang up, I won’t be able to pick up later. You can get the address from Vincent.” 

“Okay, you just try and keep holding on until I get there. I’ll call Vincent and get there as fast as I can.” 

“Wait! Wait! What about the vampires following you? The last thing I want is for you to come to an isolated spot like this so that they can attack you. Just tell Vincent to come and get me and get home, the boundary spell will keep you safe.” 

“I’ll figure something out. You’re pretty important to me too.”

“Keelin? Keelin, go home! Keelin!” Without looking, she knows that Keelin has hung up. With a sigh, she tries swinging her feet to get some momentum to try and lift herself up. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get her anywhere. 

It’s fifteen minutes later when she hears someone walk in. 

“Vincent? Do something fast please, I can’t hold on much longer, my arms are getting tired from propping me up.” 

“Hold on, I’m on my way up, okay?” It’s Keelin. 

“Keelin, this is the opposite of what I wanted. Vincent should be here and you should be at home safe. Don’t come up here! As you can tell, the whole place is unstable. If you fall through the floor too, who’s going to come and help the both of us?” She can still hear Keelin coming up the stairs. “Be careful!” 

_**KEELIN** _

Even though Freya told her what had happened and she’d heard it as it did, she still didn’t really believe it until she walked in and saw Freya’s legs hanging from the ceiling. She’s paying attention to all of Freya’s warnings, but her main concern is getting Freya out safely. She hadn’t missed the part where she said her arms were getting tired. She carefully makes her way up the stairs, listening for any weakness in the floor. 

When she gets all the way upstairs, she immediately spots Freya. She’s about five feet from where Freya is barely holding herself with her arms. Freya turns to look at her. 

“Great. Get me out fast in case you were followed. Then we have a chance at being ready” says Freya. Keelin raises an eyebrow at her, but makes her way towards her. 

“I don’t think that’s the most important issue right now…” she says as she tries get to her girlfriend. The wood creaks beneath her feet and she can feel it bend a little. “Um… okay, I can’t get to you. We’re going to have to figure something else out. Give me a minute.” She can tell Freya’s trying to stay calm, but being stuck from mid chest up, can’t be at all comfortable. 

_**FREYA** _

She’s trying to be patient while Keelin thinks, but the longer she hangs, the more anxious she gets. The house was older than she thought and the floorboards are fragile. Even if she could hold herself up longer, she’s not sure the wood would hold. 

“Keelin…?” Keelin looks at her after considering the options, and her face doesn’t look hopeful. 

“I think you’ll have to fall through” answers Keelin. Freya blinks at her for a second trying to understand what Keelin just said. 

“Fall through? That’s should be the last option, because it is the absolutely last thing I want to do. Pick something else. And hurry?” 

“Freya, we didn’t have many options to begin with. I think this is the only thing we can do.” She watches Keelin go back downstairs until she can only hear her walking around beneath her. 

“Okay, just drop down. I’ll catch you.” Freya knows what Keelin’s proposing will probably work, but it still doesn’t seem like a good idea. 

“Two things. I’m a little scared and I don’t think I can’t get my arms free. The only reason I’m able to hold myself up like this is because my arms kind of got stuck when I started to go through.” 

“Wiggle around some. And I’m going to catch you.” Freya sighs as best she can with the wood pushing against her chest. She swings her legs first, seeing if that will loosen things a little and when that doesn’t work, she tries to turn. It hurts but she manages to move a little. Then she doesn’t have to worry about it because the wood finally gives and she falls, desperately hoping Keelin will catch her. 

On the plus side, Keelin does catch her. On the down side, their combined weight has the floor collapsing under them and they land hard in basement. Trying to take in how badly they’re hurt, neither of them moves for a second. She had landed on Keelin so she’s okay, aside from having the wind knocked out of her. Once she can breathe okay again, she turns her head a bit. 

“You okay? Hurt anything?” Keelin groans beneath her and Freya tries to get up. Rolling off, she knows she’s going to have a bad bruise around her where the wood had pressed against her. Crawling back towards the wolf, she goes make sure she’s okay, when Keelin grabs her hand. 

“I’m fine. Just give me a minute and I’ll heal. Also, you’re heavier than you look.” Freya scoffs and shoves Keelin’s shoulder. Looking around the room, she spots what looks like an old medallion sitting on a wooden box. It takes her a moment to get to her feet, and get over to the box. “What is it?” asks Keelin as she tilts her head towards her. 

“I think it’s what Vincent sent me here to get. If it isn’t, then he’ll have to come search for it himself and hope the house is still standing.” Stumbling back over to Keelin, she offers her a hand up. After another moment to gather herself, Keelin grabs it and lets Freya pull her up. They both look up at the hole they’d created and fallen through. 

“Let’s get out of here” says Keelin, not letting go of her hand and pulling her towards the stairs. They’re both still a little unstable on their feet, but they still manage to make it up the stairs. When they finally make it upstairs, they stick to the edges of the room, since they aren’t likely to fall through that part of the floor. 

As they walk towards the front door, Freya makes sure the medallion is still in her jacket pocket, but looks up when Keelin puts a hand on her arm to stop her. She looks up and is greeted with the sight of vampires waiting outside. Freya sighs. 

“This is exactly what I thought would happen. Now what?” whispers Freya. 

_**KEELIN** _

If it wasn’t for her wolf hearing, she would have missed Freya’s question. 

“We fight them. Are you up for this?” 

“Probably, but I’ll be worn out afterwards. There’s no chance of Vincent coming to help, is there?” 

“Nope.” She’s still healing from the fall and isn’t really sure she can take on that many. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Freya’s shoulders slump in disappointment. Before Keelin can comment, Freya shakes out her arms and steels herself up for a fight. With a deep breath, they head outside. 

There are more vampires than they thought. Keelin flexes her hands and twists her ring with her thumb just as the vampire begins to attack. Keelin handles what she can. When it comes to fighting she tends to use boxing as her basis. Knowing that there would always be people coming after her, she felt it was important to keep up her fighting skills since she didn’t like resorting to her wolf. She’s a mix between an out-boxer and a brawler when it comes to methods. She’s quick on her feet like an out-boxer, but relies on powerful blows like a brawler. Add in her wolf abilities, and she’s pretty lethal. While keeping up with boxing, she also remembers the importance of improvising. Vampires are faster and strong so even with her abilities she has to be able to adapt quickly. She tries to do things like use their strengths against them, but it doesn’t always work. 

As she fights, she hears necks snap and sees bodies fly out of the corner of her eye. She keeps moving though, not really counting how many she’s taken down, but knowing it’s more than a few. She’s just taken another one down when she hears Freya yelp and turns to see her get thrown back against the house. When she’d turned, she’d left herself open and is hit with a kick to the ribs. The crack she hears as it hits isn’t all that surprising given how she’d hurt them when they fell. She lands hard on the ground and it takes her a moment before she can roll over can try to get up again. 

Maybe it’s because the witch is used to being thrown, but Freya recovers faster than she does. The vampire that sent her into the dirt manages to kick her in her ribs once more before Freya sends him flying back. She looks up in time to see him collapse after having his brain melted. Then it’s over, between them, all the vampires have been dealt with. It still takes a moment before either of them can get up. 

_**FREYA** _

Stumbling to her to her feet for the second time that day, Freya rubs at the back of her head as she tries to make her way to Keelin’s side. She can feel blood trickling down the back of her neck and sighs. Given how hard she’d hit the house, she’s surprised it didn’t collapse. She’d already been tired after holding herself up with her arms bent at her sides for forty-five minutes, after falling again all the way to the basement, adding a fight was a little much. She only makes it half way to where Keelin is trying to get before her legs give out. Struggling into a sitting position, she tries to evaluate how much of her hurts. Like most times when she’s been thrown into things, it’s mainly her head and back, but the rest of her hurts as well. She hears Keelin trying to get up again and looks over towards her. The first thing the wolf does is look back at her and see how she’s holding up. Freya just shrugs. Keelin nods once she sees that she’s alright. 

After a minute or two, Keelin hikes herself to her feet and comes over to help her up. Freya puts her arm around the doctor’s shoulders and they make their way to the car which is parked a block away. Keelin heals fast, but not so fast that she isn’t aching just like she is with every step. Getting to the car, the wolf gently lowers her into the passenger side and starts to drive them home. When she realizes that’s where they’re going, she puts a hand on Keelin’s arm. 

“I’ve got to give this thing off with Vincent.” 

“You can call him and let him know that you’ll drop it off tomorrow.” 

“If I drop it off now, he can figure out how it’s causing trouble and I don’t have to get up tomorrow. Even if I heal myself later, I still won’t want to get up tomorrow.” With a sigh, Keelin turns the car back to where Vincent is waiting for her. Freya gets out of the car and walks into Rousseau’s where Vincent is waiting. He stands up when he sees her trudging towards him, but she doesn’t say anything, just chucks the medallion at his head and hopes he catches it, before turning and walking out. 

Once they get home, they only make it as far as the couch before collapsing. Freya falls first and when Keelin sits next to her she puts her head in Freya’s lap. Freya rests a hand on Keelin’s arm and sinks deeper into the couch. They sit silently for about ten minutes before either of them has enough energy to say anything. 

“I’m never helping Vincent again” she grumbles. Keelin chuckles. 

“Yes you will, because he’s working to help everyone, and you want to be a part of that.” Freya knows that, but that’s the only reason. 

“Fine, I’m never going in an abandoned house again” she amends. Keelin’s smile grows. 

“You being a witch and the things you get involved with, I think that part is unavoidable.” She groans and rests her head on the back of the sofa while running a hand through Keelin’s hair. She thinks back through the day for a minute and as much as she hurts, Keelin had taken quite a few blows too. 

“You okay? If you’re still in any pain or anything, give me a minute and I’ll heal it up for you” 

“No, I’m good here. I’ll be okay, just don’t make me move.” She continues to run her hands through Keelin’s hair as she snuggles further into her thigh. Having gotten comfortable, and neither of them wanting to move anytime soon, that’s when Freya’s phone rings. Freya groans and lets her head fall forward. Keelin shifts forward a bit and manages to reach the phone that is still vibrating. Answering, she sets it on speaker before letting it clatter back down on the coffee table. 

“Freya? You okay? You looked a little beaten up when you came in. I sent Keelin to you, are you both okay?” Keelin looks up towards Freya and sees that she’s already half asleep. 

“We’re fine Vincent. A little rough, but otherwise okay. Did what Freya dropped off fix things?” she didn’t know a lot about what Vincent and Freya were involved in, but for Freya to want to help try and fix it after the day they’d had, it must have been important. 

“You mean the medallion she threw at my head?” Keelin smirks because that sounds like Freya. “I caught it by the way. But yeah, I just wanted to make sure you were both okay and let you know that everything has been taken care of. And thank you.” 

“No more abandoned houses Vincent” says Freya, making her look up. Freya still looks tired, but the frown on her face makes her look adorable instead of intimidating. 

“I can’t make any promises. Keelin, was something wrong earlier? When you came by—”

“It’s fine now. We’re fine.” 

“Okay, I’ll let you two go. Thanks again.” He hangs up and thankfully it saves Keelin from having to lean over again. 

“So, now what do we do?” 

“We rest here a while longer, until we can move and not have it wear us out, and then we go get a shower because we are covered in dirt and dust.” 

“Oh, we, huh?” Freya gives her one of those special smiles. 

“Yeah, we. Unless you want to stay here…” 

“No, no, I’ll join you.” 

“Great. But let’s go in a few minutes. I’m pretty comfy right here for now.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if there are any prompts you want to see done put them in the comments or my tumblr inbox. I'm still working on the ones I have. Thanks and sorry for the delay on them!


	10. 7 Year Gap x09 Ghosts Are Hard To Shake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As much as Freya would like to avoid dealing with her past in any way possible, it still comes back to haunt her. Keelin wants to help, but Freya goes back to pushing her away. She goes to Rebekah for help and is reminded of the importance of trust.

_**KEELIN** _

It had started at the clinic. As usual, she’d had a busy day, but at least once a week, she’d have a day where she got off at a decent hour. Freya would meet her at the clinic and they’d go out to eat somewhere. It was a nice change of pace. It saved them from having to cook for a night and got them away from the house and work for a much-needed breather. 

She’d gotten changed and was making her way out to the waiting area. She spotted Freya easily and smiles, but then she notices the blonde is focused on something. She follows Freya’s gaze across the room to a young mother and her baby. Her expression softens and she turns back to look at her girlfriend. Then she frowns, unable to read the expression on Freya’s face. She makes her way to Freya’s side and calls her softly, but Freya’s too focused to hear her. She tries again, but this time puts her hand on her shoulder. Freya startles so bad, she jumps and nearly falls out of her chair. She would have if she hadn’t caught her. 

“Hey, you okay?” she asks. It’s a minute before Freya responds with a nod and a weak smile. She would have given it more thought, but Freya shakes her head clear and gives her a better smile. 

“Yeah, you ready to go?” She nods and Freya takes her hand and leads them out. Everything seems okay while they pick somewhere to eat. It’s been a long day for both of them, so when Freya’s quiet and lost in her thoughts during the meal, she’s only slightly concerned. Her silence continues through the rest of the night, and by the time they’re climbing into bed, she can’t take it anymore. Normally, she wouldn’t press and hope the witch would tell her in her own time, but right now she’s too worried to let it go. Something had gotten to her, but she had no idea what. If it was a new danger, Freya would have told her immediately and then started stressing over the protections in place. That meant it was something personal. 

“Freya, what’s wrong? You’ve been quiet all night” she says gently. She doesn’t want her concern to come across like an interrogation. Freya opens her mouth to say something, but then closes it again and shakes her head. Keelin holds back a sigh. She’s glad Freya isn’t lying to her, but rather than tell her anything, she’s reverted to silence. “Please talk to me” she asks again. Freya takes a deep breath. 

“I’d rather not discuss it” answers Freya softly. This time, she’s the one to shake her head. 

“Whatever this is, it’s affecting you and I just want to help.” Freya turns away, but Keelin doesn’t miss the frustrated look on her face. “Look, it doesn’t have to be tonight, but I really wish you’d tell me about it.” This only seems to make Freya angry. “Freya…” she starts again, wanting to at least try to calm her down. Freya turns back towards her sharply, an irritated look firmly in place. 

“Look, I know it’s getting to me, but I can’t help that. I don’t want to talk about it. Not tonight and not later.” Now it’s her turn to be aggravated. 

“Freya, you know everything about me. I don’t think it’s asking a lot for you to tell me what’s going on. I’m just worried about you” she tries again, unable to keep her growing irritation out of her voice. 

“Well, it is and I can’t help that either. Look, I’m going to sleep in the guestroom tonight.” Just like that, the conversation is over and Freya is gone. Keelin is stunned and trying to process what just happened. She’s seen Freya shut down before, but never so quickly. She knows that going after her would probably only make things worse. Not know what else to do, she crawls into bed and goes to sleep. 

* * *

Sometime later, she jerks awake. It takes her a moment to get her bearings. She tries to figure out what woke her. She’s pretty sure she hadn’t been having a nightmare, so she turns over, but Freya isn’t there. Then she remembers what happened and that Freya is in the guestroom. That’s when the house begins to shake. Quickly getting up, she goes to check on Freya. As she makes her way there, she glances out the window. There aren’t any car alarms going off. In fact, their house seems to be the only one affected. Suddenly it hits her. It’s Freya’s magic. She must be having a nightmare. It’s happened once or twice before, but not like this, never this violent. She quickens her pace. 

Just as she gets to the doorway, the shaking gets worse and the bookcase they’d crammed in there falls over and blocks the entrance. She hears the sound of other furniture crashing in the room. She has to use her wolf strength to move the bookcase out of the way. Then she’s stepping over the scattered books and rushing to Freya’s side. Freya is thrashing back and forth and mumbling in her sleep. Grabbing Freya’s shoulders and gives her shake while calling her name, but she doesn’t wake. She winds up yelling her name and shaking her harder than she’s comfortable with. This time, Freya’s eyes snap open and a force sends Keelin into the wall. Freya sits up takes in the damage to the room before realizing that she’s there. She blinks at her a few times before saying anything. 

“How bad was it?” Keelin tries to take her in before responding. 

“I felt it in the bedroom, but it was mostly focused here. That doesn’t matter right now. Are _YOU_ okay?” She can see the sweat on Freya’s face and the dampness of her hair. She’s trying to hide it and look calm by controlling her breathing, but her eyes dart around the room, she looks terrified and is searching for whatever was in her nightmare. Not finding it and realizing she’s safe, she turns back towards her. 

“I’m… I’m fine” she says firmly. Once again, Freya avoids looking at her and focuses on her hands instead. Keelin isn’t sure what to do since it’s clear Freya still doesn’t want to talk. Freya continues then, before the silence gets too uncomfortable. “I’m sorry about this. I’ll clean it up in the morning. Sorry for waking you.” Sensing that’s all she’s going to get, she squeezes Freya’s shoulder and is relieved when she doesn’t pull away. 

“Try and get some sleep if you can, okay?” she says as she walks to the door. She gives Freya one last look before returning to the bedroom. 

Keelin gets up early for her shift the next morning. Before she leaves, she checks the guest room. As expected, Freya’s gone. The bookshelf has been organized again and the rest of the room has been straightened up as well. She wonders if Freya managed to go back to sleep or if she was too scared and felt it was safer to stay awake. The last thing she notices before walking out the door, is that the laptop is gone too. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

She’s at the bell tower on a video chat with Rebekah. She’d waited as long as she could, but she needed to talk and when it came to sorting out her feelings, her sister was the best person to consult. Despite the time difference, her sister picked up, just like she would if the roles were reversed. She has no idea where Rebekah is right now, but is pretty sure she just woke her. Her sister had listened as she explained what happened, from seeing the baby at the clinic, to the memories it brought to the surface, to the earthquake she’d caused in their home. Now, she was scowling at the keyboard, knowing she hadn’t handled it well with Keelin. 

Rebekah was processing everything while Freya was kicking herself for pushing Keelin away when she’d only been trying to help. Still, it wasn’t something she wanted to discuss with her or anyone else for that matter. 

“Do any of us know everything Dahlia took from you? I know she took you away from the rest of us, but given your reaction, I suspect there’s more. More that you haven’t even shared with me” says Rebekah. Freya forces herself to look at her sister. 

“Klaus knows. I told him back when I’d first arrived and he didn’t trust me. I tried to explain why I was helping all of you. What I was trying to keep Hope from, what life with Dahlia had been like, and how cruel she was.” Rebekah was silent for a long moment. 

“What did she take from you Freya?” she asks softly, carefully. Freya can see that her sister an idea, the baby being an obvious give away, but she wants to fully understand. Freya answers quickly, still not wanting to talk about it, but she trusts her sister. She goes through it all. It takes longer than she thought to explain it all. She thought she’d feel better, but she’s still a mess. 

“So, you vowed not to love” says Rebekah, putting it all together. Freya nods. “You kept that vow for centuries. Until Keelin.” Freya sighs before trying to explain. 

“I didn’t mean- I didn’t expect it to happen. She’s… different. She understands me better than any of you do, better than even I do. She thinks me capable of change and that I’m not a monster and with I actually believe it. She’s convinced that I’m able to do and be lots of things I’ve always wanted or never even considered.” 

“Like what?” asks Rebekah, genuinely curious. 

“Being happy. In all sorts of ways.” Her sister looks at her expectantly, so Freya tries to come up with examples. She’d thought just saying she was happy was enough, but apparently not. 

“It’s not… It’s not like I haven’t been happy before, for instance, I was happy when I met you for the first time. I knew who you were, but you didn’t know me, yet you still looked after me. Then meeting all of you, even if only you and Elijah trusted me, I was happy just to find and see all of you. The day all of you accepted me as family, invited me to live in the family home, and made me part of your sacred vow, that’s my happiest memory so far. 

There are others, like meeting Hope and my first Christmas with all of you. All of those made me happy. But… they were just moments spread out over time, short, brief moments. There was always some sort of crisis, some threat bearing down on us, so you can understand how even though we were all together, we didn’t have the luxury of our happiness lasting very long. 

Now though, even though I miss you all and can’t wait until we’re all together again, I’m… happy. I can be happy and have it last for more than just a moment. It’s a constant state. It doesn’t mean I don’t get sad, frustrated, or depressed sometimes, but it… doesn’t last. I’m able to pull myself out of it and not let it consume me like it used to. I was in a bad place when I realized I couldn’t defeat the Hollow for all of you, for Hope. I got worse when the only solution was for us to separate. After everyone left and I couldn’t even bear to stay at the compound, I thought… well, I’d searched for you all for so long and having you all with me made me happy. I didn’t think I could be as happy without you. I felt like I’d failed you all because I was supposed to protect you-“ explains Freya. 

“We protect each other Freya, it’s not all on you. That’s what Always and Forever means. Now, tell me how things are different with Keelin. What’s different from before?” Freya shrugs, trying to find a way to describe it. 

“She helps me see things differently. She’s helped me change my habits so that I’m taking care of myself better. But it’s more than her helping take care of me. She’s always there for me, usually before I even know I need her. She makes sure I take time off, time for us, and time for myself. It’s… a lot of different things, sometimes something small, other times it’s making me take a day off. She helps me figure out things about myself. It doesn’t mean I love you all any less or that I’m not still trying to reunite us-.” 

“She’s there for you in ways we never really were. In way we couldn’t be due to constant danger. I know she was there for you and with you while we fought against the Hollow. You took a lot on by yourself and we never really acknowledged that. You’re doing it again, still working on the Hollow by yourself. Typical Mikaelson stubbornness.” Freya gives her a small smile and nods. 

“I try to be there for her too. I’m not as good at it, but I’m trying, I’m learning how. She also… still believes in me, has faith in me, that I can fix all this, even when I doubt myself. Turns out, now that I think about it, I tend to do that a lot.” She hadn’t really thought about the full impact Keelin had on her. Even when they were attacked, she’d only come up with a few ways, not the whole scope. She forces her tears back and swallows the lump in her throat. 

“She’s right you know” says her sister and Freya’s head snaps back to the screen. “From what you’ve told me, Keelin has shared a lot with you. From the very beginning she’s been honest and open about herself and her experiences. Her fears and her past. All that is just what you’ve mentioned, there’s probably more. You learned even more after the attack. She told you about the part of her that scared her and she thought would scare you. You’ve shared somethings about yourself, and I know even that’s been hard, but you’re keeping large parts of yourself secret. Why?” Freya looks down at her lap, but knows Rebekah saw the hesitation on her face. 

“I’ve tried very hard to put my past behind me. The only time it’s been remotely useful was when Dahlia came after Hope. Even then it didn’t help much. Klaus was the one to save her.” 

“Don’t forget that it was you who saved the rest of us from the white oak dust” interjects Rebekah. 

“I’ve tried to become more than my past. More than everything Dahlia forced me to do, the evil she made me help her with. I thought I left it all behind when I found all of you. But then there’s what I did when we dealt with Aurora, Lucien, and Tristan.” 

“In defense of family, Freya. That’s different. Also, you weren’t alone in doing those things.” Freya shakes her head again. 

“Still, it wasn’t like I stopped there. I killed Davina, taking Kol’s first real happiness. Yes, there have been others who have attacked us, various followers, but the others? There were others who got worse than they deserved, who I was more than cruel to. Keelin being a perfect example. 

I’d rather not share my darkest moments and memories. Ideally, none of you would know. I’m only telling you so that you understand. I’d rather not think about Dahlia ever again, much less discuss her with anyone. Especially Keelin. All of this resulted in such a vivid nightmare, that I lost control of my magic and caused an earthquake.” Rebekah thought carefully about everything she’d said. 

“Does she know how much she means to you?” Freya knows what she means and looks away again. 

“I’m afraid to say it. The last person I told it to was killed right in front of me. I hadn’t even decided to try and start a relationship with Keelin before Dominic tried to have her killed for my actions. I knew I had feelings stronger than friendship for her even then, but letting her go was safer for her. She was attacked simply because I put a boundary spell around our home. She held her own, but after that, I started having nightmares about the various ways she could be killed. 

It got worse when the Hollow got in my head. She showed me what I felt was inevitable. The vision of Keelin I had was her there with her throat slashed. Our family doesn’t have a very good history with relationships. Too many we care about are driven away, wind up seriously hurt, or are killed because of us. When I think of telling her, I think of Mathias. I know what I have with her is different. For starters, I had only known him for a year and I’ve known Keelin longer. I don’t… I don’t want her to leave or send her away, but if I tell her, if I say the words, I’m afraid something will happen. I have protections in place, but you know how well that went with the recent attack. Even with all of us spread out, she was nearly killed again just because of who I am.” Freya’s busy playing with her hands, having to do something with her nervous energy. 

“I can’t imagine what you went through with Dahlia. I understand you’re trying to move past it, but so far, she’s been the one helping you do that. She can’t if she doesn’t know everything. You have to acknowledge who you were in order to put it behind you. Relationships are also built on trust. I know you care very deeply for her, but so far, that trust is only going one way. You’ve shared some of yourself, but you can’t move on with what you have and not share such a large part of yourself. 

What you do is up to you sister, but without telling her, you may lose her.” Freya takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. As many times as she’d considered telling Keelin to leave in order to keep her safe in the past, she couldn’t do that now. It’s more than she could bear. Looking back at Rebekah, she sighs. 

“It looks like I have a decision to make, so I’ll let you go.” This time, it’s Rebekah who nods. 

“Call me if I can help any further. I love you Freya.” 

“Love you too Bekah. With that, they both sign off. Looking at her phone, she’s surprised at how long they’d talked. It was also about four hours until Keelin got off work. Going over to the cots, she lies down. Maybe she could get some sleep here and keep potential damage away from their home. Going over the conversation she’d just had with Rebekah, she realized there wasn’t a decision to be made. When it came to telling Keelin about her past or risk losing her, it wasn’t a choice. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

She’d gone to work, hoping to take her mind off everything. The only problem was, no matter how hard she tried, it never really worked. She could focus when she had to concentrate on work, but when there was a lull or she was on break, she couldn’t push it out of her mind. 

She went over what she knew about the witch. Freya hadn’t lived with her mother, she’s not sure why, but that she’d grown up without anyone that cared about her. She’d searched for her siblings for centuries, but never told her how they got separated. There was an Aunt Dahlia that Freya stayed with, but she never spoke about. Then there’s how she hadn’t wanted Hope to grow up like she had. Putting all that together, it sounded like Freya’s childhood was horrible, like the centuries she’d lived without her siblings and being alone had been almost more than she could bear. 

Then she thinks about everything she’s told Freya about herself too. Despite how they met, Freya was a good listener even when it seemed like she wasn’t paying attention. For some reason, whenever she shared something, she went into her personal history. More than was probably smart to with the person who kidnapped her. It had started with an explanation as to why she wasn’t healing. She’d been more open with Freya than she had with anyone in years. At that point Freya hadn’t shared much more than the fact that she had siblings and a brief description of them. Anything she hadn’t already shared with the witch, she’d told her after the second attack. Maybe it had been so easy because Freya had known she was a wolf from the beginning. Everything else didn’t seem like such a big deal. 

With a sigh, she gets rid of her trash from lunch and goes back to work. Given Freya’s reaction to everything, she was guessing it would be a while before she came back from the bell tower. If she did come home, to their home, she probably still wouldn’t want to talk, but Keelin wouldn’t back down on this. Not just because she felt she deserved to know, Freya said she trusted her but this would say otherwise, but also because without knowing what was going on she couldn’t help. Freya might avoid her for a while, but she’d still be waiting for her. 

* * *

To her surprise, Freya is waiting on the couch when she gets home. Stepping further into the living room, she’s unsure what to expect and shifts on her feet. Freya attempts a smile, but it’s sad. The witch gestures towards the bedroom. 

“Why don’t you go shower and change and then we’ll talk” suggests the blonde. Keelin blinks at her before nodding. She hadn’t expected that. She hurries through it all and gets back to Freya as fast as she can. Settling on the couch next to Freya, she can’t help but feel tense. 

“Did you get anymore sleep last night?” she asks to start things off. Freya shakes her head. 

“No, but I slept for a few hours at the bell tower today. Less risk to the house that way.” They sit there for a few minutes, and she wonders if Freya’s just gathering her thoughts. Regardless, the longer she waits, the more anxious she feels. She’s just about to suggest they eat first when Freya begins to speak. 

“I’m trying to remember how much I’ve told you. I know it hasn’t been much, but it would give me a starting point. I’ve thought out everything I have to say, just not exactly how to start. So, just give me a minute.” She nods, but also notices how Freya’s nervously playing with her hands. 

“As you know, I’m the eldest of my siblings. When it comes to magic, the first born is the most powerful. My mother Ester wanted more children, so she made a deal with her sister. In exchange for me and the first borns of our line, she would make it so that my mother could have more children. When I was five, Dahlia came for me. At the time, I had only one other sibling, my brother Finn. He was my first friend. I don’t think Ester ever gave me another thought.” Freya takes a deep breath before continuing. One thing Keelin’s noticed so far, is that Freya hasn’t called Dahlia her aunt once. 

“Dahlia was never kind, she already felt betrayed when Ester left her to marry my father. When Ester turned my siblings into vampires, it was another betrayal. Living with Dahlia was never easy, but when Ester betrayed her, things got worse. That’s when the emotional and physical abuse got… well, it got much worse. I only heard about my other siblings after they’d been turned. I didn’t see them all together at a party in 1914. I attended the party as Kol’s date, which would have been awkward if he’d known who I was. Even back then, our family parties didn’t end well. 

Back to Dahlia. I couldn’t get away from her. I tried to run away lots of times, but didn’t get very far. There was one time I got away, but Dahlia and I were connected so she found me again. Before she did that time, I met my first love. I only knew him for a year, but I loved him. His name was Mathias. Because we were connected, Dahlia had always known where I was and came for me. At the time, I was pregnant. My leaving was yet another betrayal. She got back at me by killing Mathias in front of me, I watched him die. I was so heart broken and distraught, I wanted to end everything, I was tired of it all. So, I drank Dahlia’s strongest potion and tried to kill myself. What I didn’t know was that Dahlia had made it so that we couldn’t die. That didn’t include my son. I had killed him.”

Keelin doesn’t know what to say or do. This wasn’t what she was expecting at all. Well, she didn’t know what she was expecting, but she couldn’t begin to imagine dealing with all this. Freya had been on her own with no one to help her deal with any of this. She had buried it all for so long. She reaches out and takes Freya’s hand. Freya squeezes it before continuing. 

“To keep us alive, Dahlia had us sleep for a century and wake up for a year before going back to sleep again. Every year I was awake, I searched for my siblings. When I woke this time, I found out about Hope. I never wanted her to experience what I had. Hope is very powerful, more powerful than I was at her age. I didn’t know that at the time, only that she was a first born, and that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. When I found them all, only Elijah and Rebekah trusted me. From what I’d heard and now know from experience, Klaus doesn’t trust easily, especially when it comes to Hope, but he will do anything to protect her. 

When Ester gave me to Dahlia, she was supposed to help me learn to control and use my magic. She did, but then used me for her own reasons, her own evil, and I did terrible things helping her. Once she was dead, I hoped to move past the horrible things I’d done. I was finally with my family and thought things would be… different. That I could be different. But my family has more than its share of enemies. I continued to do monstrous things, but I told myself it was for my family. I will always do everything in my power to protect my family, but it doesn’t change what I did. The vampires, witches, and wolves that attack us, like the followers of the Hollow, I have no guilt when it comes to killing them. But others, like Davina Claire, I killed her to help my family, but she didn’t deserve that. A more recent example would be what we… well, more specifically I did, kidnapping you and how I treated you. 

I’ve still been trying to change, but dealing with constant enemies like the Hollow has made that hard. The Hollow probably won’t be the last threat my family and I face either. This all… started to get to me again when I saw the baby in the clinic. I reminded me of son, and how he hadn’t even been born yet when I killed him. How directly or indirectly, everyone in my family and I care for gets hurt or killed. So, after Mathias, to keep myself from that kind of loss again and to keep others safe, I made a vow not to love. I’ve kept that vow for centuries. Until you. You are the second relationship I’ve ever had. I love Hope more than anything. I love her like the son I almost had and will never let anything happen to her if I can help it. 

My nightmares… well, they’re very vivid. I see my son. I see Dahlia coming for me again, coming for Hope, killing you, and there’s never anything I can do to stop it, any of it. The part that hits me hardest about the dreams, what makes them so real, is that two of those things have already happened. Hope is very powerful, so it won’t be the last time someone comes for her. When it comes to me, well, I spent so long with Dahlia, the memories are sometimes hard to get free of even though she’s dead. That just leaves you. So far, I can’t say anything other than it feels like we’ve been extremely… lucky. I hate that word. You’ve been attacked twice and it wasn’t due to anything you’ve done. It’s had nothing to do with you other than how much you mean to me. That’s never gone well for me, anyone in my family, and certainly not for the other person involved. That scares me more than anything, especially since my family and I will probably always have enemies. As much as we try to protect ourselves it’s not like we ever see the attack coming. An eventual attack, one coming at some point, yes, but we can’t predict everything. The attack on both of us proves that. 

So, having all this in mind, having told you everything, I’m still scared of what can happen. I will still do everything I can to protect us, but as my failure with the Hollow shows, I can’t promise it will work. So, what do we do? My siblings have an advantage by constantly moving around. We, or rather I, can’t leave. I need to stay here in order to work on the Hollow, and having to

stay in one place makes me more vulnerable. You can leave if you want, I won’t stop you, it would be safer for you. Regardless of what you do, I will figure out a way to deal with my nightmares, I'll figure how to deal with it if you go, but it won’t stop the inevitable threat from coming.” 

Keelin had listened to everything Freya said very carefully. It explained a few things that she didn’t really think about until now. Freya always worked alone and did her best to protect her family. Keelin figured she had her reasons for working alone. When they started their little project, it was secret from the others, but as things went on Freya still worked alone. She’d helped until she’d held up her end of the deal. When she left, she knew Freya didn’t want her to leave, but she had figured it was because they were now friends, but that had only been part of it. She had been the one to point out that Freya was there alone, but didn’t give it much thought. It seemed that after centuries of working by herself, Freya didn’t really know any other way. It could also be that Freya thought danger would follow her and come after her family like Dahlia had. After everything Freya told her, Dahlia would be a hard ghost to shake. 

Freya loved her family, there was no question of that. Everything she’d done while they were here was in order to protect them, and that continued even now as she tried to figure out the Hollow. Freya saw it as her duty to protect her siblings because she was she was the oldest. Keelin figured that having been taken from her family and then having her future family taken from her as well also played a factor in her protectiveness. She didn’t want her niece to go through what she had, but didn’t want anyone else to be taken from her either. 

She’d explained to the witch how she’d been tracked ever since her pack had been slaughtered, tracked because her bloodline is valuable. It was hard for her to explain the full impact that had on her, constantly being on the run, but it seems like Freya understood. She’d been running until she found her siblings, others who could help protect her even though she felt that was her job. 

She can’t quite wrap her head around it. She doesn’t think Freya’s lying to her or anything, but she doesn’t know how she keeps going after so much pain and loss. Some part of her wanted kids, she hadn’t thought about it in a while, but she can’t imagine losing one like Freya had. She also can’t imagine the guilt Freya undoubtedly feels. Freya tends to feel guilty about most things she’s done. In her opinion, she’d probably spared her son from a horrible life with Dahlia, but she doubts the witch sees it that way. She can’t imagine losing someone she cared about much less loved killed in front of her. Put together, that much loss was enough to make Freya give up on everything, her search for her family, her belief in love, and her life. Even at her lowest, after losing her pack to vampires, she’d never considered anything like that, so she can’t relate to that at all. She’s glad it didn’t work because otherwise they would never have met, but she doesn’t want to think about the horror Freya must have felt when she woke up after trying to kill herself or learning her son’s fate. 

Freya’s history also explained a few things about her, things that she’d guessed about, but she hadn’t anticipated anything like this. Up until now, she thought all of Freya’s concerns were due to her family’s history. There are things Freya told her and things she’d found out from others, they’d been almost eager to tell her about Freya and her family. She’d found out a lot of the horrible things the Mikaelson’s had done that way, but it never changed her opinion of Freya. She hadn’t met all of Freya’s siblings, but has a feeling that most of their actions had been in defense of their family. 

She doesn’t know why it never occurred to her that Freya’s actions might be due to her own experiences. She understands now why Freya had pushed her away after they’d only gotten closer. She never wanted anyone else to suffer the way Mathias had. It also helped explain why it was so hard for Freya to deal with her emotions. She’d cut herself off from feeling much of anything for a long time. Her love for her family was different. She’d searched for them for so long out of love for them, so it was easier for her to let them in. 

When it came to protecting people she cares about, Freya did everything she could, but typically only saw her failures. Keelin, on the other hand, was able to see her successes too. The knife she made to kill Marcel was just one example. It hadn’t been used, but that didn’t make it a failure. She can’t do anything about Freya’s memories, her fears though, those she could try and help with. There were so many things Freya was still afraid of. She was afraid that she’d be hurt or killed because of her, that she’d fail at fixing the Hollow, scared of her own feelings. Freya was so scared of all of this she was willing to let her go in order to keep her safe, just like she’d tried before. 

The only other thing she’s noticed is that Freya doesn’t think she’s changed. Back when they first met, Freya had called herself the evil witch in her story. Keelin sees things differently, but she’ll have to prove that to her. 

* * *

_**FREYA** _

She’d explained everything and thought it’d be a relief, a weight off her shoulders since she trusted Keelin, but if anything, she felt worse. Saying it all aloud, brought it all to the surface again, and now it was all playing out in her head like a distorted movie. It’d be harder to ignore it all and keep her nightmares from surfacing again. Now, she could add Keelin’s leaving to her nightmares. Whatever choice Keelin decided to make, it would either add to them or keep them the same. 

She’s still waiting for Keelin to say something, but she’d never been good at waiting. She’d known she’d had to tell her, even before Rebekah said it, but she couldn’t shake this anxious feeling. Keelin is still taking everything in, processing it, after all, it had taken a while to explain, but her nerves are practically making her tremble. Keelin always gave her time to sort out the thoughts in her head, and now she’s trying to do the same, but it isn’t easy. 

When Keelin does finally speak, she’s able to let out the breath she’d been holding. This conversation could go anywhere, but she’d given Keelin two choices. Waiting to find out which one wasn’t exactly painless. 

* * *

_**KEELIN** _

Before she says anything, she tries to calm her down. She could practically feel all of her worry. She gives her hand a squeeze and it gets Freya to look at her. 

“Thank you for telling me all this. It helps explains a few things I’ve wondered about. So many things have happened to you, terrible things… terrible is the wrong word, it makes light of everything. But I can see why it still affects you even after all this time. It helps me see why you can’t see yourself like I do. Nothing you’ve said changes the way I feel about you, okay? I’m not going anywhere, even if that might be safer. I’ve lived being in danger for a long time. Not anything like what you’ve been through, I know that, but even with what’s happened, the attacks and risk of danger by staying with you, being connected to your family, I don’t care. I think that this, what we have, is worth it and I’m staying. What you’ve overlooked is that luck or not, we’ve gotten through everything so far. Both times it was because of you. The first time it was because of the ring you gave me. The second time, that was because of you too. I’ve looked at it from every angle and all I can come up with is that it was you. 

I can’t imagine going through everything you have. You’ve been through so much pain and loss and had to do it alone. I know that you want to keep me safe, from making you experience anything like you have before, I’ve known that from the beginning just not why. Whatever happens to you, being attacked or more nightmares, I’m going to be here with you. If you’re fighting someone or something, I’ll be by your side, whether it’s fighting physically or just keeping you company while you work. If it’s something else, I can try and do that too, we’ll figure it out together. 

When it comes to the things you’ve done in the past, I can’t change that, but I can tell you that I think you’ve changed. None of its easy, but you have, from your habits to who you are. As evil as you feel you’ve been, you’re different. For instance, you let me go—.” Freya scoffs and looks away before correcting her. 

“You mean after I broke Hayley’s guarantee to let you go, coming after you when they set you free, making you a part of something you knew was risky, or holding the cure you’ve always wanted just out of reach. Maybe it’s just me, but none of that sounds like change” says Freya flatly. She sighs and keeps from running her hands through her hair in frustration. Freya’s never had a high opinion of herself. 

“I’m going to have to correct you on a few things. You did break Hayley’s promise to me, but I understand why. I would’ve done the same for my family if it would bring them back. You created a cure for Marcel’s venom. You removed the leash from the ring and let me keep it. You let me go, but I came back on my own because I wanted to. You also overlooked the fact that I forgave you. I don’t hold any of it against you and when I say that, I mean the kidnapping, taking my venom, and the attacks. I’ll help in any way I can, any way you’ll let me, but I’m not going to leave you.” 

She’d been so focused on making sure Freya heard her, that Freya fully understood, that she’d missed when the witch started crying. Tears were streaming down Freya’s face but she wasn’t making any sound. She doesn’t hesitate to pull Freya close and hold her. So many things had happened to Freya. She’d lost her family and her freedom when her mother traded her for more children. She’d loved Mathias and her son, and probably hadn’t realized she was creating a new family with them. Or maybe she had, but she doubted Freya would have given up her search for her siblings, she’d start again at some point. She’d lost all that to Dahlia’s cruelty. Now, her siblings had left, even though it wasn’t their choice, they were still gone. Hayley and Hope were gone too, and while she loved them all, Hope’s absence hurt her the most. 

Keelin knows it will take more than words or even a promise to make Freya believe her, she’s had both before, but everyone still left. The only thing she thought she had was her family’s oath of Always and Forever, and while she was a part of that now, her siblings weren’t around to stand by it. Freya felt alone again, even though she knew splitting up was the only way to keep everyone safe. She’d have to remind Freya that she still had her. She plans on proving it by being right there by her no matter what comes next. 


End file.
